The Legendary Reunion
by AAML SQUAD
Summary: When Misty's sister's organise a reunion for all her friends(especially Ash),everything seems fine but when Giovanni provokes the legendary pokemon and they begin to battle, the very fate of the world hangs in the balance. AAML, DAML and many, many more...
1. Chapter 1: Travelling

It was a beautiful day in the Kanto region. The pidgey were chirping, the beedrill were buzzing, the sun was shining brightly and the air was calm with a refreshing breeze blowing throughout the region, revitalizing all who came by it.

One person who did come by it however, barely realized the tranquility of the atmosphere. Ash Ketchum, Pokemon master wannabe was walking along happily down the path leading up to Cerulean city. His jet black hair was sticking out in every conceivable direction and his brown eyes looked as far down the path as they could. His pikachu stood on his shoulder and had never looked happier then he did now. Ash was a normal 15 year old, obsessed with pokemon, video games, battling, food and of course girls. But not just any girl. The object of his desire was a very certain girl.

Misty Waterflower.

Ever since he was fished out of that lake 5 years ago he had a crush on her. This continued developing strongly until he knew that he was in love. That one day where the three best friends split up was the most painful thing he had ever had to do. Well there was that time he had accidentally sat down on Corsola...no, Misty leaving was much more sad and he regretted leaving her every single day.

Pikachu had also seemed depressed because his best friend, Ash was disheartened. Brock then left and a few days later, after Misty had left, Ash had been joined by May and max on his travels. She was a nice person and sure, she was fun, but that aching void where Misty once had been remained. He thought about her every day, all the time. May was too obsessed with shopping and with Max to realise what he was going through. Eventually, May and Max left too, but this had nowhere near as much of an impact on Ash as when Misty had left. Brock and Dawn then joined, then Brock left, then Dawn left, then Iris joined, then Cilan joined, it was all a big jumble in his head that made no sense in the slightest.

For a year this went on until Ash had had enough. All he cared about were his mom, Professor Oak, his pokemon, Brock and Misty. Everything else was simply irrelevant against these essentials. Eventually Ash got bored of Cilan and Iris, so instead went to visit a certain someone in Cerulean city. That someone nearly exploded with joy at the chance to go on adventures again and together they went to go and retrieve another certain someone from Pewter city. This however proved to take longer as they first had to tear him from the numerous Officer Jenny's and Nurse Joy's that were in Pewter city.

After this, Ash, Misty, Pikachu and Brock continued on their journeys for another 4 years before they decided to all spend 2 weeks apart to see how their respective families were doing. It had been a tough 2 weeks, not seeing his 2 closest friends after they had spent 4 years together was painful to say the least. But his mom was alive and kicking so he was at ease for the most part.

But here he was now. Walking through the fresh Kanto breeze, to meet his closest friends again. He was heading for a reunion. Not just with the love of his life and his best friend, but with everyone that he had cared for in the past. Misty, Brock, May, Max, Dawn, Iris and Cilan were all on their way to the renunion. When Ash had told Pikachu about the renunion he immediately giggled and began smiling and began winking at Ash.

'What is it buddy?'.

'Pika pi pikachupi chu pikapi'.(We all know Misty's the reason your so excited)

Ash turned bright red but instead of denying it like he normally did, he simply said 'yeah, well that is true'. This was Pikachu, the one pokemon that knew everything there was to know about him.

'Pikachu pika pikachupi pi pikapi chu'.(You better tell her this time).

'Believe me little buddy, no-one wants to tell her more then I do. When the moment's right I will'.

'Pika pikachu pi chu pika'.(Well I'll make sure the moment's right don't you worry)

'Thanks pikachu I can always count on you' said Ash, smiling.

'Pika chu pi pika pikachu pi pika'.(It's nothing, just find me a female pikachu and we'll be even)

They both laughed and headed for the reunion excitedly. Ash was excited to meet Misty and, well, pikachu was also excited for Ash to meet Misty.

Admittedly, it wasn't Ash's idea, but Misty's sister's idea to organise a big get together for all of Ash's friends. Misty immediately agreed to the idea of a reunion, before receiving an hour of teasing about how cute Ash and Misty looked together.

Questions and jokes were flung around the room like sparks in a thunderbolt attack. 'When's the wedding', 'what will you two name your kids', 'make sure he uses protection', 'was it love at first sight' and 'when's he proposing' were some of the embarassing comments thrown at Misty. She was about to hit all three of her sisters when they stopped.

'Aww Misty'.

'What is it Daisy?' She asked in an irritated tone.

'Your blushing'. She replied before all three of them started teasing her again.

It was true, Misty was blushing, but only because she would see her favourite person in the world again in a week, thanks to the plans her sister's had been all to eager to organise.

'Misty?'

'What is it Lily?'

'Where are you meeting your lover and the rest of the group?'

Misty calmly ignored the 'lover' part of it and cooly replied 'Uhh, I think we're all going to be hanging out in the gym for our reunion before me, Ash and Brock go back to out travels in a month's time'.

The three sister's looked at her in confusion.

'What is it?'.

'No your not having the renunion here'.

'Why not?', she asked in a worried tone. Misty was beginning to think that she wouldn't get to have her reunion and instantly began to get worried.

'Like, because your all going to be using the lakehouse, duh' they all replied in carefree, joyful unison.

Misty's jaw hit the floor. For the last couple of centuries, the Waterflower family had been famous for their lakehouse. It began as a weak, sorry looking house before being reinforced with wood. Then metal. Now it was a full luxury lakehouse with a large number of rooms, appliances, battling fields and more, all overlooking the beautiful cerulean lake.

'You guys would do that...for me?' She asked, on the verge of breaking into tears.

'Like misty have you like lost it or something?' Daisy asked.

'Yeah its like totally your lakehouse too' said Lily.

'Like you are a Waterflower too, duh' joined in Violet.

'There's more then enough space for all of you, and its a lot more romantic then in this old gym' Daisy replied, winking at Misty.

Misty blushed before embracing her 3 sisters in a large hug.

'Oooh and there's battlefields too so you can watch your boyfriend battle'.

She blushed again before running around, frantically trying to make plans. 'Ash, were staying in this lakehouse and you are going to be there with me and enjoy every second of it' she thought in her head.

Meanwhile, Ash was still walking down the path before catching sight of the Cerulean gym. In his knowledge, they were all going to spend their reunion there but he didn't mind in the least. He sprinted as fast as his legs were able to carry him towards the door, almost knocking poor pikachu off his shoulder.

'Misty, this is going to be absolutely amazing. He thought in his head whilst tearing toward the gym.

Ash however, had no way of knowing the numerous unexpected events that were about to occur.


	2. Chapter 2: Ash's confession

After a couple of minutes of running, Ash reached the Cerulean gym with Pikachu barely hanging on to his shoulder.

'Hehe umm sorry Pikachu, guess I was just really happy to see Misty'.

'Pikachu pika, kachu pi chu pikapi pikachupi!'(don't worry about it I'm fine, now stop talking to me and meet her!).

'You got it little buddy' said Ash before he nervously approached the blue door of the Cerulean gym. He took a second to admire the large dewgong on the gym before Pikachu started tapping his shoulder and pointing towards the door. Ash took the hint. He calmly took a deep breath before reaching out a gloved hand and knocking loudly on the door.

Giggling could be heard inside before a girl with pink hair opened the door. She immediately took one look at Ash before smiling mischeviously. Ash looked worried at this and Pikachu's cheeks began to spark.

'Pikachu pika chu pikapi' he growled.(No one laughs at my master)

Lily looked at him again before shouting 'Misty, your boyfriends's here' and disappeared.

Ash blushed and Pikachu nudged him cheekily.

'Not now pikachu, wait till we've met her first!' he said smiling.

Pikachu nodded his head and then his ears began to twitch.

'You sense something pal?'.

Pikachu nodded, trying to focus on what it was he could hear. Then it hit him.

'PIKACHUPI PI CHU' he screamed, waving his paws in the air.(MISTY'S COMING NOW).

Upon hearing this, Ash began to panic.

Pikachu looked at his friend beginning to sweat and calmly adjusted his hat and hair for him before doing a pikachu victory sign.

'Do I look okay buddy?', Ash asked frantically.

'Pikachu pi pikapi pikachupi chu pika'.(Oh please, she doesn't care what you look like, she just wants you)

'You sure?' Ash asked.

'Pika!'.(Positive)

'Thanks pal your the best friend ever' said Ash, tickling Pikachu ears.

He began to laugh uncontrollably before hey both heard a familiar voice.

'As cute as ever I see' giggled Misty walking out of the door'.

'Yeah I know he's-'

'And pikachu's pretty cute too'.

Ash blushed and pikachu simply whispered something in Ash's ear. His expression changed as he finally understood what misty had said.

'Aww Misty, your not too bad yourself' said Ash, trying to keep his cool.

Misty went red before running towards him and embracing him in a tight hug. They stood like that for a few minutes before a flash caused them to break the hug and look inside. The three sensational sisters were there giggling, with Daisy holding a camera.

'Aww now you can show your kids this cute photo' she said, smirking.

'Yeah I guess we will' said Ash calmly.

Misty looked into his eyes, confused. 'He didn't even deny it like he usually does' she thought.

'Misty I think I forgot to say how beautiful you're looking today' whispered Ash. Misty blushed and Pikachu gave Ash a pat on the back.

'Ash do you...like me?' She inquired hopefully.

'Nope' he replied bluntly.

Misty's heart felt like it had just been smashed into a million pieces. No words came out of her mouth as she just stood there awestruck with tears threatening to come out at any second.

'It's a million times more then just 'like' he said with a bright smile on his face.

Misty felt like she would die right there and then. The one guy in the whole world she actually loved had just implied that he loved her too.

'Ash what do you mean by that' Misty asked, desperately eager to know. She needed to hear it from Ash, an implication wouldn't be enough. All her sister's were watching but she didn't care in the least.

'Oh well, a certain three words' Ash said cheekily, moving in so that they were only millimetres apart.

'Say them'.

'Ahh, well you see, ermm...hmm...no'.

Misty felt anger surge up inside her. She knew he loved her but he wouldn't say it. She pulled out her mallet and angrily whacked him over the head with it.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO?! ASH KETCHUM YOU TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU LOVE ME RIGHT NOW OR I WILL KILL YOU AND THEN TELL OUR KIDS YOU DIED IN A CAR CRASH' she screamed, the look in her eyes was murderous.

Ash picked himself off the ground, cheekily grinning.

'First Misty, we can't have kids if you kill me' he stated, smirking. This received laughter from Misty's sisters while Misty stood there sheepishly. 'And secondly, your going to tell me the three words first'.

'NO I WILL NOT'.

'Fine then, I guess I'll have to go somewhere else instead of having our reunion' he said giggling, Misty's heart sank but she remained strong.

'Wh-where else will you go?' she asked, her voice trembling.

'Hmm...I'll probably go with you sisters to get something to eat' he replied impishly before giving her a kiss on the cheek and walking towards her sisters who were now in fits of laughter.

She blushed at the kiss and thought 'just you wait Ketchum, you'll say those three words before I do'. Then she followed Ash and her sister's to go and get something to eat as the rest of the group would be here in about an hour.


	3. Chapter 3:The mysterious figure

After about an hour of eating, Misty's sisters were staring and giggling at the way she was staring at Ash. Ash noticed her staring, but decided to wind her up by pretending he only noticed the food in front of him. In four years, he had learned how to eat like a gentleman but this also caused him to eat at a pace that was eyewateringly slow. Eventually he looked up, turned towards Misty and stared deep into her eyes whilst slowly moving his hand to grasp hers. Misty could barely breath as Ash moved his face until they were only millimetres apart and she could feel his warm breath on her face.

'Misty?'

'Yes Ash?'

'I... love-'

This was it. He was going to say it. This was the moment. Pictures of him proposing, the wedding, the fun and their children began flashing through her head at unprecedented speeds.

'This salsa!, I mean come on, how do you guys make this stuff it's insane' he said smiling. He playfully winked at her before taking more of the salsa. He knew exactly what he was putting her through and she had no choice but to carry on.

Ash looked at her disheartened expression whilst trying to hold back his laughter. Her sister's giggled with him, angering Misty even more.

'Gee Mist, you don't look so happy, was it something I said?'he asked innocently.

She glared at him with anger and longing plastered over her face.

'You should really try this salsa, it's awesome' he said, dipping another nacho in it and moving it to her mouth.

'ASH I DON'T WANT ANY OF THAT DAMN SAL-' she screamed before she was silenced by a nacho being shoved in her mouth. She chewed it whilst shooting angry looks at Ash. He was right, the salsa was actually really good. She made a mental note to congratulate her sisters after they stopped laughing at her. His playful demeanour only infuriated her more since he kept those three words just out of reach.

She was the kid who was reaching for the cookie pot that was on a shelf just inches away but she couldn't reach it.

'Strange' she thought, 'I haven't heard pikachu in a while'. She forgot about her anger for a second and glanced over to her left where Pikachu was sitting. Her concern was instantly finished. Pikachu was sat sprawled out on the chair with a large ketchup bottle in his mouth. It was now only half full and Pikachu was still feverently drinking it. Ash looked up from his plate and saw her staring at something. He followed her eyes and glanced at Pikachu in alarm.

'PIKACHU!' he yelled. 'THAT'S THE FITH BOTTLE YOU'VE HAD TODAY!'

'Pika pi chu'(and the best one I've had yet') he calmly replied before shifting his focus back to the bottle. Ash just looked at him before in wonder. 'How does he drink so much?' he thought. Eventually he decided Pikachu would be fine. Ash then caught sight of Misty laughing at the little electric rodent's perseverence when it came to ketchup. The tranquility of the moment was shattered when there came a loud knock on the door of the gym. The 3 sisters looked at each other in alarm and Pikachu put down his ketchup bottle, ready for anything since his hunger was now successfully satisfied. Misty began to walk to the door when she felt someone grasp her hand. She turned to see Ash with Pikachu on his shoulder, cheeks sparking.

'Don't worry Mist, whatever it is we've got it' he said smiling reassuringly. Pikachu also gave her a friendly 'pika' before tensing his little arms in an attempt to show off how strong he was. Misty giggled before stroking his cheeks and smiling. The reason the sisters were so scared was because there had recently been a large amount of robberies, mostly involving food in the Cerulean area. In addition to this, a large number of people had been admitted to hospital after breaking their legs after falling down hidden holes on various paths. The two happenings couldn't possibly have been linked...could they?. Food certainly was an odd thing go to the trouble to steal but they still were ready whatever it might be. Ash began to walk toward the door before being tugged back by his hand to Misty until he was facing her and staring into her blue eyes which were full of concern.

'Ash...please be careful'.

'Ahh Mist, I've got my pika pal with me(pika!), I'll be fine. And I wouldn't dream of letting anything happen to me before you said those three words to me' he replied, winking cheekily.

Misty didn't feel any anger, only fear as her one love made his way towards the door. Chances are it was only someone looking for a battle but there was always the chance that it was a team of crooks trying to rob the gym provisions.

Misty watched in pure fear as Ash reached his gloved hand out for the door handle, Pikachu's cheeks sparking even more furiously then before.

Ash gripped the handle before swinging it inwards and looking at the person standing in the doorway. He suddenly began to struggle for breath. The figure was standing there with a hand outstretched, clearly trying to give him something but Ash was awestruck and not moving an inch.


	4. Chapter 4:Brock's surprise

**Hey guys its the AAML SQUAD here again. This is the fourth chapter we've wrote in three days! Phew we've updated like crazy, but now check out who the 'mysterious' figure is!**

The figure in the doorway was of course none other then Brock Slate. His brown spiky hair was still the same and he wore his typical outfit of and orange T-shirt with a green sleeveless jacket. The mystery of whether or not he had eyes still remained as no-one had worked it out yet. However the reason Ash was shocked was because of what he held in his hand. Brock's outstretched hand was holding a diamond engagement ring in a small black box. The ring's gold band shimmered in the sun while the diamond was blinding all who set eyes upon it. Ash's eyes looked at him mischeviously before saying 'Oh Brock how did you know?YES!'.

Misty heard the loud 'YES' before her curiosity got the better of her and she walked over to the door. She walked over to Ash before looking outside. The sight she saw was one of the last things she expected to see as Brock looked questioningly at her. Misty took one look at the ring before pullling out her mallet and whacking him furiously over the head with it.

'BROCK SLATE HOW DARE YOU PROPOSE TO ASH! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT HE'S NOT EVEN PROPOSED TO ME YET GO AWAY YOU CREEP'.

A very bruised Brock looked at Misty with a confused expression whilst picking himself up off the ground. 'MISTY STOP HITTING ME ITS NOT FOR ASH!' Brock screamed. Misty instantly seemed to calm down before turning bright red. 'Not that I want him to propose to me or anything...' She added while blushing. Ash walked over to Brock and helped him up. He pretended to look hurt at Brock not proposing to him before Brock got him in a headlock and playfully tousled his hair. 'It's for Suzie Ash you idiot'.

Misty walked over to the two boys when she heard this. 'Brock are you really proposing to Suzie?' She asked.

'Yeah I sure am' he said, clearly happy with himself'.

'Aww Brock that's so sweet' she replied with adoration all over her face.

'Yeah she's the only girl I've ever liked' he said before everyone fell over anime style.

'Brock how long have you guys been dating?' Ash asked.

'About a year, remember everytime I arrived back at the pokecentre at 1 in the morning?'

'Yeah?' They replied in unison remembering the numerous times they had been woken by Brock arriving.

'Well I was out with Suzie on those nights' he said before rubbing the back of his head shyly.

'Aww Brock you Romeo' Ash said before playfully punching him on the arm.

'Yeah well you know, I'm just really happy being a gym leader pays so well or I wouldn't have been able to buy this for her' he said referring to the ring.

'Yeah Brock its so beautiful' said Misty, her eyes sparkling at the romanticism of Brock popping the question to a surprised Suzie.

'Thank you Misty, you'll be getting an equally beautiful ring in a couple of years' he said, nudging Ash.

Ash and Misty both began to blush furiously while turning their backs to each other.

'Aww still in denial as always I see' said a voice in the distance.

**Well there it is! Brock's back and he's proposing to Suzie(she's in the anime and she gave Brock his Vulpix). Please drop a review and we'll see you next time;)**


	5. Chapter 5:Max&May

**Hey guys sorry for the very short last chapter, but we needed a way to put Brock in while showing what's happening with his 'love' life. Big thank you to EVAN AAML for helping us write this first story with more help then you can imagine! This chapter's dedicated to you Evan. Anyway without further ado, let's get to the chapter!**

Ash and Misty both turned bright red before looking in the direction in which the voice had come from. Brock took one look at their faces before going inside to help Misty's sisters 'cook'. Drew looked at them with a smile on his face, walking towards them. He casually flicked his bright green hair before turning to the still-red-faced Ash and Misty.

'Hello Ash' he said, looking at him in a playful manner.

'Hey there Drew' grumbled Ash as Misty pulled Drew into a tight hug which squeezed the air out of him. She looked around at Ash's grumpy face before laughing.

'Jealous Ash?'She asked.

Ash mumbled something incoherently before looking at Drew.

'Aww still in denial, always cute with you two' he calmly said while nudging a very red Misty.

Misty and Drew then turned their backs to him and began talking about various things that didn't interest Ash when he noticed something.

'So we're in denial are we Drew?' He innocently asked.

'Yeah definitely' he absentmindedly replied still with his back to Ash.

Ash could just about make out a red bandana approaching in the distance.

'And we're the only ones in denial?'

'Yeah obviously'.

By now Ash could make out a tall figure fully dressed in red with a smaller boy next to her.

'You sure?'

'Positive, Ash why are you aski-' Drew turned around and froze instantly. His heartbeat increased dramatically and his face became flushed as he realised the reason Ash was asking so many seemingly pointless questions.

Misty curiously turned around and immediately saw Max and May before running at top speed towards them. When she reached them, she enveloped them both in a tight hug and Misty and May began screaming loudly in that way girls do when they see each other.

Ash looked at the still frozen Drew with a cocky expression on his face. 'Guess I'm not the only one, good luck pal' he said before giving him a pat on the back and running to meet the brother and sister.

Drew just stood there, rooted to the spot as he watched the group approach them. May looked even more beautiful then the last time he had seen her. Her bandana was the brightest red and her hair shimmered in the warm sun. His gaze was shattered when a delicate voice made its way to his ears.

'Well Drew? Aren't you going to come and hug me?' May asked, her arms wide open and pretending to look hurt.

'Go on Drew, we all know you want to' giggled Ash and Misty together.

Drew cast them out of his thoughts before attempting to regain his self-control.

'It's okay, she's beautiful, your Drew, just give her a rose like you normally do and play it cool' he thought.

It took a second for him to actually realise he needed to do this before he inched his way over. He almost jumped into her open arms but managed to just control himself.

'Gee, May I've missed you so much' he said, not letting go.

'I've missed you more Drew, there was no-one to give me romantic roses everyday' she said while winking at him.

Drew blushed before Max angrily jumped in between them and broke their hug.

'Now you listen here buddy, if you want to do the weird sexy stuff that mom and dad still won't tell me about with my sister then fine! But your gonna have me to answer too, you hear me?!' Max shouted, trying to puff up his little body in an attempt to make himself look as intimidating as possible.

'Yeah Drew, your gonna have to answer to Max here if you wanna do 'sexy stuff'' giggled Ash and Misty before tousling Max's hair.

Drew turned a brighter red then Max had thought was possible before a familiar voice screeched into his ears.

'MAX YOU IDIOT! YOU RUINED THE PERFECT MOMENT AND IF HE WANTS TO DO 'SEXY' STUFF WITH ME THEN THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, DO YOU WANT ME TO TELL THEM ABOUT DAWN?' May screamed angrily into Max's face. An expression of fear found its way on Max's face. 'No, please don't!' he pleaded, on his knees.

'You're right, there will be time for that later' smiled May who was enjoying blackmailing Max. His face turned to one of fear when he saw Ash, Misty and Drew who had already guessed what May was going to tell them.

'Aww Max, you little playa' laughed Ash before they all began to make their way back to the gym.

As they were walking back, Drew caught up to May and grasped her hand, forcing them both to drop behind. He mischeviously looked in her warm, brown eyes before saying 'well, it almost sounded like you wouldn't mind doing sexy stuff with me'.

'Well we'll just have to wait and see then won't we?' she added while winking and squeezing Drew's hand. They all walked inside the gym and waited for the rest of the group to arrive.

And there it is! We tried to make this one longer and filled it with more contestshipping;) as always, drop a review and we'll see you next time!


	6. Chapter 6: Max's secret

Hey there fans!phew. 3 chapters in one day?wow that's gotta be a world record, anyway enjoy this chapter(we've focused on newbieshipping because it's cute;))

Now it was just a matter of playing the waiting game. They all were waiting for the rest of the renunion group to arrive at the gym but only Misty knew about where the reunion was REALLY taking place. They were now just waiting for Cilan, Iris and Dawn to arrive or else the reunion wouldn't be taking place. She looked over at Ash tapping his fingers whilst he listened to May's stories of shopping and various malls. She could easily tell he was bored as his chocolate brown eyes didn't have the same spark of energy and life that they normally did. This hurt her and so she decided to rectify it. Misty confidently walked over to the sofa where Ash was sitting and sat beside him. He looked at her for a couple of seconds before they both blushed and looked in opposite directions. May and Max were sitting on the opposite sofa, evidently intrigued while watching the entire charade play out. Eventually, after about a minute of looking in opposite directions Ash calmly stretched his arm over his head before placing it around Misty's fragile frame. They both turned an even brighter shade of red but neither wanted to ruin the moment as May and Max looked on without a word. Misty looked at Ash's expression before snuggling into his chest and staying there. With one move, Ash turned this into a full hug as he enveloped Misty into his arms. She was more then happy to oblige and they both sat there, acknowledging each other's presence.

'Aww I hear wedding bells' smirked Drew, walking over to sit next to May. Max glared at Drew as he was about to sit down.

Drew raised his hands up in defeat. 'Chill Max, we're not going to do 'sexy stuff' I'm just sitting down' he offered.

'Yeah well you better not be doing anything or things will get very hard for you Drew' he said with an unwavering stare. He suddenly heard a sharp intake of air before he braced himself for what he knew would happen.

'MAX! YOU LITTLE BRAT, LEAVE DREW ALONE, HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT 'SEXY STUFF' IS! HE CAN DO WHAT HE WANTS AND ITS NOT UP TO YOU TO DECIDE WHAT WE CAN AND CAN'T DO' she screamed before giving Max a dirty look.

'May chill, he's just looking out for his sister who might be liking a certain person' Drew winked. May blushed as Drew sat down next to her while ignoring the angry stare Max was giving him.

'And plus, Dawn will be here soon so you can get your own back then' added Drew before wrapping his arm around May. Max froze at this and completely ignored Drew. He looked at May in fear and saw the cheeky smile forming on her lips.

'Alright sounds good to me' she replied, moving into Drew so that the two 'couples' were now in identical positions.

'I sure bet it sounds good when I don't even like Dawn' he grumbled.

'Then why do you have all her contests videos at home and I caught you two holding hands under the table at my birthday party?' May asked, clearly happy with herself.

'YOU DIDN'T CATCH US HOLDING HANDS'.

'I sure did, and it was the cutest eleven-year-old couple I've ever seen Max you little Romeo'. This earned a round of laughs from the group as May squidged his cheeks and remarked about how adorable he was.

'WE'RE NOT A COUPLE!' screamed Max, tearing himself from May's hand.

'Well...not yet' replied May before Max turned red and made an excuse to go and find Pikachu. At this, Ash became worried and looked at Misty. She immediately knew what was going through his head.

'Don't worry Ash, Pikachu can take care of himself, he's either exploring or lying passed out in a bowl after drinking too much ketchup' she laughed.

Ash immediately became at ease as he recalled when Pikachu did that at Professor Oak's birthday party.

'Thanks Mist' he said before tightening the hug. She immediately tightened it as well knowing that she had helped the one guy who meant the world to her.

There came a knock at the door as the group looked up in fear. Could it be the mysterious, unnamed crooks who had been stealing food and digging holes?

They all became at ease and began giggling when they saw familiar blue hair through the translucent glass of the gym door.

'MAX IT'S FOR YOU!' they all replied in unison.

What an ending! we felt that was a nice place to end it. Chances are we'll have at least one new chapter for you tomorrow so until then as always, drop a review and we'll see you then!;)


	7. Chapter 7: Drew's help

Max immediately came running down the stairs. 'What is it, what's wr-' he said before noticing their giggles and looking at the door. Max could just about make out the blue hair through the glass and instantly turned red. 'I DON'T LIKE HER!' he said unconvincingly.

'Sure you don't, now come her Maxykins' said May ushering him over.

Max reluctantly walked over grumbling something. The entire group apart from Max smirked at Max. May then began to organise his hair and button up his green shirt.

'Dawn's into hipsters you know' she said, winking.

'Why would I care who she's into?' Max replied blushing.

Everyone just laughed as May adjusted Max's hair and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

'May!'

'Sorry Maxy, you just look so cute! Now go and get her tiger' she added with a smile.

Max turned a brighter shade of red before walking towards the door grumbling something about how he didn't know what she was talking about.

He reached the door and took a deep breath before reaching out his hand and grasping the doorhandle. He swung it inwards before gasping. Dawn was standing there but she was even more beautiful then the last time they had met. She was wearing her pink contest dress with her hair down and her beanie was covering the top half.

'H-h-hi Dawn' he nervously said before looking down at the ground.

'H-hi Max' she replied before looking towards the ground as well. They both blushed and this was greeted with adoring 'awws' from the rest of the group.

'Max stop talking and kiss her' shouted May, giggling in Drew's arms.

'May!' Max said in annoyance before turning back to Dawn.

'So-erm Dawn you uhh look very...umm bea-beau-beautiful' he stuttered causing Dawn to turn even more red.

'Max you err look very...nice too' she nervously added.

'I've not seen you since May's birthday party' said Max.

'Ye-yeah it has...been too long' she replied.

'Yeah I bet you two definitely 'enjoyed' my birthday party didn't you' shouted May, winking at the nervous children.

Max and Dawn looked around in sheer embarassment, trying to avoid each others eyes.

'May, your ruining Max's little moment' said Drew, pretending to be angry with May.

'Ohh yeah?! Well what are you going do it about it?' she asked playfully gazing into his eyes.

'Well, you'll just have to wait and see ehh?' said Drew. The two laughed before Drew said to the very red Max, 'Max are you not going to be a gentleman and invite this very pretty young lady in?'.

'Ohh yeah sure, err Dawn I'd really like it if you erm came in to sit with me- I mean us! All of us! Not just me' Max said frantically.

Dawn looked towards the laughing group inside before shifting her gaze back to the ground.

'Thank you Max I'd like to sit with you- THEM very much' she quickly said.

They both blushed, embarassed at each other's mistakes as they realised what they both wanted to do.

Dawn walked in and immediately looked at Ash hugging Misty and Drew hugging May.

'Err Max if everyone else is hugging, then maybe we-' she started but was cut off by Drew.

'If it's alright with you Dawn, I need to borrow Max for a second' said Drew. May got out of his arms and looked into his eyes confused. Drew winked and she immediately understood what he was going to do.

'Yeah Dawn come over here and we'll have a girly talk' said Misty, catching on to what was happening. Dawn nodded before Misty got out of Ash's grasp and walked to her bedroom, before being followed by Dawn and May to have a 'girly' talk.

In the living room was left Ash, Drew and Max before they heard a familiar voice.

'Aww Max that was one of the cutest things I've ever seen' remarked Brock coming around the corner and taking off his apron to sit down next to Ash.

Max blushed before getting angry at Drew. 'Drew! She wanted to hug me before you interrupted' he said in an annoyed tone.

'So you...wanted her to hug you?' said Ash, beginning to enjoy himself.

'Well...no' Max replied unconvincingly before changing the subject. 'What did you want anyway Drew, you better not be asking me about sexy stu-'

'Stop right there pal! No it's got absolutely NOTHING to do with 'sexy' stuff or your sister' blurted Drew. 'I was just going to help you with Dawn'.

Max looked up at him in adoration before narrowing his eyes. 'Well let's suppose for a second I actually do like Dawn, which I definitely DON'T. Are you doing this just to get me to like you so you can do sexy-'

'NOOOOO' the entire group screamed together.

Drew sweatdropped before gathering his composure. 'Alright now Max, Brock's going to be Dawn'.

'Ohh joy(!)' Said Brock sarcastically.

'Play along Brocko, the little guy needs help' stated Ash.

Max blushed before focusing on Drew.

'Now, with a flick of the wrist, you have to catch it and offer it romantically to the 'person''. Max looked at him in confusion.

'Watch' said Drew before turning to Brock and flicking his wrist to produce an elegant rose. Brock looked at him in surprise before saying 'how the hell did you-'.

'You see now?'.

'Yeah Drew I do, thank you'.

'Don't worry about buddy'.

'Listen Drew, I like you now and if you want to do sexy-'.

'NO I DON'T MAX PLEASE-' shouted Drew before calming down. He gave the rose to Max before setting it up in the top of his sleeve.

'Drew hasn't it got thorns?'.

'Nope, don't worry I took care of that'.

'Thanks buddy'.

'Think nothing of it'.

Aww this is such a cute chapter! We'll see you next time and please drop a review fans;)


	8. Chapter 8: When girls talk

While the boys were talking about training Max to get Dawn downstairs, the girls were talking about other things upstairs. They were all seated in Misty's room with the exception of May lying on Misty's bed.

'Misty you bed is SOOO comfy' she remarked, stretching out as far as she could.

'Thanks May it's a water bed' replied Misty.

'Why am I not surprised?' Said May raising her head, before relaxing back onto the bed again. Misty's room was a typical teenage girl's room. It was mostly blue with clothes scattered around in various places. Every shelf, desk or ledge was decorated with water pokemon figures and models whilst the bed was decorated with horsea sheet covers. On the walls were many pictures of Misty throughout stages of her life, baby, toddler, girl and teenager. However most of the teenage pictures involved Ash. The biggest picture in the room was a picture of a very red Misty with Ash's arm around her, winking and laughing.

'So Dawn you look so beautiful today!' said Misty, starting a conversation.

'Ohh thank you Misty, its a new dress I bought to wear at Max-CONTESTS I MEANT CONTESTS' Dawn blurted before realising it was too late.

'Aww!' said Misty and May in unison, 'that's so cute'.

Dawn blushed before May and Misty moved in so that they were sitting in a circle.

'So...' asked May.

'So?' replied Dawn, apparently not catching on.

'Do you like my brother?'.

'Yeah he's a really good friend'.

'No silly, as MORE then a friend' winked Misty.

Dawn turned a bright shade of red before trying to hide her face.

'Come on, we need to hear it, you clearly didn't wear such a pretty dress if you didn't want to my brother to be shocked the second he saw you' coaxed May.

Dawn's red face looked up at her in confusion.

'That's right, we saw the little guy's reaction, you nearly gave him a heart attack' Misty said.

'Well, maybe I might-'

'Nope, might's not good enough' interrupted May.

'Well I could possibly' started Dawn.

'No...'

'ALRIGHT HE'S THE DREAMIEST GUY EVER AND HE'S CUTE AND CLEVER AND FUNNY AND THE SAME AGE AS ME AND I LOVE HIM, HAPPY NOW?!' screamed Dawn with embarassment all over her face.

'Yeah very happy' replied the two girls before looking at Dawn.

'Now we know for sure, we're going to help you'. Dawn looked up at them in wonderment, her eyes sparkling.

'Really?'.

May and Misty looked at each other in confusion before looking back at Dawn. 'Yeah well duh, your like a sister to us' said Misty matter-of-factly.

'Yeah I'm all for my brother getting a beautiful girl' said May, putting a hand on Dawn's shoulder causing her to blush.

'Well if you help me with Max, then I'll help you with Ash and you with Drew' screamed Dawn causing Misty and May to look embarassed.

'I do-do-don't know what your talking about' said Misty, blushing.

'Yeah and nei-neither do I' added May.

'Oh please, it's clear you like them and that they like you so why not make it easier for them?'

May and Misty looked at each other nervously before looking at the blue-haired-girl in bewilderment. 'If she opened up to us then should we open up to each other?' they thought.

'Yeah well maybe Ash is the one for me. I just love everything about him! His hair, his hat, his playfulness, his selflessness'.

'And Drew's the most romantic person I've ever met' she said dreamily.

'Alright well we've got to use this reunion to our advantage' said Dawn, determined to win over Max.

'I knew Max had found the perfect girl when he told me the first time he saw you that he thought your hair was pretty' winked May, causing Dawn to blush.

'Let's go'.

And there's chapter 8! Wow we've been updating like crazy haven't we?! Drop a review and we'll see you guys next time!;)


	9. Chapter 9: Max's skills

Yeah we know, the last chapter had like next to no pokeshipping whatsoever and we are very sorry! Unfortunately neither does this one BUT it does have a lot of newbieshipping and contestshipping so read on!

From downstairs the sounds of footsteps echoed and made their way to the boy's ears. They were just finishing teaching Max the various skills they had gathered over the years when it came to the women department. Max was in a cold sweat as he tried to remember all that his friends had told him over the past half an hour. He was snapped out of his trance when Brock put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and nodded to him. Max nervously nodded back before the group looked towards the stairs where the footsteps of the girls could be heard. May was the first to descend the stairs and when she saw the group she was shocked. Misty, walked down and saw May frozen to the spot.

'May what's wrong? are you-' she stopped as she looked at the boys in a state of pur wonder.

Dawn was the last to descend the stairs because of her long skirt. 'Misty, May what's wron-' she asked before she too, looked at the boys and was taken aback.

Brock, Ash and Drew were in a line, smiling with Max in front of them. However, it was Max that took the girl's breath away. It was clear that the boys had spent the majority of the time helping him.

His black hair was combed and he had Ash's indigo league baseball cap on. He wore a small formal tuxedo that Brock just happened to have 'lying around' with his normal green shirt underneath, buttoned all the way up. He wore shiny, black shoes that complimented the tuxedo perfectly (Misty's sisters had these left over from one of their plays). Max looked at Dawn nervously before turning around and glancing at the guys. They smiled and nodded, signalling for Max to do what they had practiced.

Max turned bright red before turning back to Dawn, who had been pushed towards the nervous eleven-year-old by May and Misty.

He nervously cleared his throat before getting onto one knee and with a quick flick of the wrist, produced an elegant pink rose to match Dawn's dress.

'For you...my love' Max said awkwardly.

'Did you tell him to say the 'my love' part?' asked Ash, glancing at Brock.

'No? And it sure wasn't you either' said Brock, confused.

'The little guy's doing what he wants' stated Drew calmly as Brock and Ash stared toward the unfolding scene in front of them.

Dawn felt like she would die when Max offered her the flower. The feelings she felt when he said 'my love' were indescribable. She blushed and looked into his eyes for a long time.

'Your supposed to take it now' whispered Max, pushing the flower towards her.

She blushed fiercely before happily taking the flower and admiring the beauty of it.

'Here let me' said Max, putting his hand out for the flower. She was more then happy to oblige as he turned her around and delicately placed it in her hair.

'There...you look beautiful Dawn' remarked Max, relieved that he had pulled off the entire show.

'Thank you Max, you look very handsome in your suit too' she replied.

This earned a round of applause from the onlookers as they pushed Max and Dawn together into a hug. May was just about to kiss Max on the cheek for doing so well before she was dragged away by the arm by Drew.

'Oh no you don't, it took me half an hour to teach Max that rose trick and we don't need his sister to embarass him in front his new girlfriend'.

May looked at him cheekily. 'She's not his girlfriend YET and speaking of flowers Romeo, where's mine?'

Drew got onto one knee and with a flick of his wrist, produced a perfect red rose.

'For you my love' he said, mimicking Max.

'Oh Drew, how unexpected' May remarked sarcastically before taking the flower and looking at it. Drew just stared into her eyes before she asked 'are you not going to do it for me?'.

Drew looked at her with a smile before taking the flower and putting into May's brown hair.

'Come on Drew, my little brother's more romantic than-' she started before Drew took her into his embrace and swung her until she was inches off the floor, similiar to the pose dancers finish in. She looked up into his eyes before he winked and said 'I wouldn't be so sure if I were you miss May'. He then moved closer to her face until they were millimetres apart. She could feel his breath on her face and prepared for the kiss she had waited so long for. They heard a cough before looking to their left to see the entire group in a line, looking at them with amused expressions.

May and Drew both turned bright red before Drew let her go and they received a barrage of compliments and jokes.

'Nice going Drew'

'May's such a lucky girl!'

'I wish this dense guy next to me was as romantic as that'

'Drew you gotta teach me that next time!'

May and Drew blushed before looking at each other again. May playfully smiled before mouthing 'next time' to him and grasped his hand in hers.

Just then a knock at the door was heard and by now, the group was so large that they didn't even worry about if it turned out to be a pack of crooks on the other side of the door. They all looked and could just about make out purple hair with green hair next to it.

Told you! It did have a lot of other shippings in. In the next chapter the entire group will have arrived and they can finally head to the lakehouse to finally enjoy their reunion but what unexpected events will take place?O_o


	10. Chapter 10: Where's Pikachu?

The two people at the door of course, were Iris and Cilan who had arrived much earlier then expected. It was meant to be a couple of days journey from Unova to Cerulean. Iris and Cilan had set out yesterday and had arrived today which had gained some questioning looks from the group.

'Iris!' said Ash running to meet her.

'Ash!' screamed Iris before running into his open arms and embracing her old friend. Misty looked at Ash angrily before he broke the hug and nervously rubbed the back of his head. Everyone else looked questioningly at Ash before he looked embarassed.

'Hehe sorry guys this is Iris' he pointed at Iris who gave a long bow. 'And this is Cilan' he said before Cilan gave a sheepish wave.

'And this is Max, Dawn, Drew, May, Brock, Misty, me and Pik-guys where's pikachu?' He asked in a worried tone.

'Yeah I've not seen him since lunch' replied Misty, also worried. 'Cilan, Iris you guys hang out with the group while we go and find Pikachu'.

'No problem Ash' said Brock before ushering the new arrivals to sit on the sofas with him.

Ash and Misty then dashed off in the hopes of finding his Pikachu before anything bad happened. First, they ran to the battleground of the gym thinking that Pikachu might have been wanting to get in some training but he was nowhere to be found.

'Pikachu?'

'Pikaaachhuuu!'

But still no Pikachu appeared. Misty looked at Ash's disheartened expression before she had a stroke of genius.

'Ash I know where he is' said Misty with a bright smile on her face.

'You do?!' replied Ash, filled with joy.

'Yeah come on!' she said before leading the way to Pikachu.

'Yeah its the one place Pikachu would be, I only showed it to him once' she said whilst navigating through the many twists and turns of the gym.

Ash was taken aback at the sheer unexpected size of the gym. The battleground was the only place he had actually been in and this was all unfamiliar territory to him. They passed through at least four blue corridors before arriving at a door.

Ash let out a sigh of relief when he saw the sign on the door.

'Gym Provisions'.

Misty looked at him before opening the door and sure enough, Pikachu was there lying sprawled in a heap surrounded by ten empty bottles of ketchup. The walls were stacked with various food items such as ketchup, buns, chocolate and more. He was snoring peacefully with an occassional 'pika' in between snores. Pikachu looked like he was having a good dream and so Ash tried not to wake him.

'Thank you so much Misty' said Ash, looking at her in adoration.

Misty blushed before replying 'don't worry Ash, he looks so peaceful'.

'Yeah I know, he's a hungry little guy isn't he?' remarked Ash before gently slipping his hands under the sleeping form of Pikachu. The electric rodent shuddered slightly before resuming his dreamful sleep. 'Misty I don't know what I'd do without you' stated Ash as they were walking back to the lounge.

Misty smiled before replying 'don't worry Ash and why didn't you just leave him there?'.

'Because he'd want to meet Iris for sure' said Ash, pulling Pikachu into his chest.

Misty's smile immediately disappeared as she continued walking.

'You know...I saw the way you looked at Iris when I hugged her Mist' said Ash, still looking forward.

Misty turned red before mumbling something that sounded like 'I don't know what your talking about'.

Ash stopped before slowly put the sleeping Pikachu down on a chair that was next to them. He then grabbed Misty by the hand before pushing her against the wall. Misty couldn't breath as she looked shyly at Ash.

'I just want you to know that your the only girl for me Mist, everyone else are just friends' he said, gazing into her eyes.

Misty felt relieved to say the least and went to carry on walking but couldn't move. Ash had his arms on either side of her and was still pinning her to the wall. She looked at his sparkling eyes before he began to move in. 'This is it!' she thought before instinctively closing her eyes. Several moments later she felt breathing on her face before she moved in with her lips pursed. She eventually felt something before kissing it and opening her eyes.

'PIKACHU?!' she screamed in shock.

Pikachu was being held up by Ash, apparently awake and blushing madly.

'Pika chaaaaa' he said with a dreamy expression on his face.

From behind Pikachu came the cheeky face of Ash who was smiling enormously.

'Hey that was a pretty good way to wake up huh Pikachu?' he asked, grinning. Pikachu looked at him before nodding, still blushing.

'WHY ASH KETCHUM I OUGHT TO KILL YOU RIGHT-' screamed Misty before Ash interrupted.

'Now now Misty, if you kill me, you won't get that kiss both of us want so much' he replied while winking.

He then moved in and gave her a long hug before looking at her expression.

'We both want so much?' she asked, calming down.

'Yep your not the only one who's got the perfect best friend, your just going to have to wait'. She smiled at him before he gave her a long hug and they began to move towards the lounge again.


	11. Chapter 11: Let's go

Meanwhile, in the living room Brock, Drew, May, Dawn and Max were talking to Iris and Cilan. The living room itself was the least glitzy part of the gym for the Sensation Sister's standards. The room was fairly big and was connected to the battleground so that the leader's could recuperate after a particularly intense battle. However today the door was closed so that no challenger could even ask to battle. The walls, like the rest of the gym were a bright, calming blue and were decorated with various pictures of the Sensational Sisters in battles, contests and performances. In the left side of the room was the kitchen, which housed the latest cooking apparatus and an oversized fridge filled with salads, yoghurts and other low-fat products. In the middle of the living room was a normal sized glass table with a single Staryu figurine sitting on the centre. On either side of the table were bright pink sofas with a large plasma screen television in front of them. The floor was varnished wood and so created a calm, pleasant atmosphere in the room.

'So Max is it?' inquired Iris.

'That's my name' he replied in a sing-song voice.

'I like your suit' said Iris.

'Thank you' replied Max while blushing.

'Is it for a special someone?'.

Dawn immediately turned red before looking around, trying to hide her gaze.

'Ahh I see' calmly stated Cilan.

Iris gave him a nod of understanding before smiling and turning back to the group.

'Yeah it's exactly what you think it is' said May causing Max and Dawn to blush immensely.

'So Iris I LOVE your hair! It's so pretty!' screamed May.

'Aww thank you May! Yours is really nice too and Cilan did my hair for me' she said before brushing her hand through her purple locks. Cilan immediately turned red and looked down in an attempt to hide his face.

'Yeah Cilan's the one guy you can rely on for anything, thanks Ci' she said before taking Cilan's hand in hers.

They both turned bright red before looking into each others eyes for several long minutes. Then they broke the handholding and looked down, embarassed.

The other group laughed in understanding at this before resuming the conversation.

'Listen Cilan-' started Drew.

'Please, call me Ci' interrupted Cilan.

'Ohh alright Ci, your both clearly very nice people and we're all really very happy you're here'. resumed Drew.

'Aww gee thanks Drew, it means a lot. We thought we were going to have a tough time fitting in to your group since we hadn't ever met you before, but you guys are the nicest people we've ever met' Cilan replied in adoration.

'Don't worry about it, for the next month we'll have nothing but fun' screamed the entire group.

Just then Ash and Misty appeared, both with very red faces.

'Uhh ar-are we ready?' asked Ash.

'Yeah we are, everything's already at the lakehouse' replied Brock while smiling.

'Alright then let's go' said Misty before taking Ash's hand in hers.


	12. Chapter 12: FINALLY!-The Road

The path leading down to the cabin was simply beautiful. It cut straight through the Cerulean countryside and was surrounded by trees on both sides, providing a pleasant canopy to protect them from the sun. A gentle breeze was blowing and combined with the sun's warmth, created the perfect holiday atmosphere. Summer had caused all the buds of various flowers to bloom and cause the path to be multicoloured and beautiful. Pikachu seemed to be enjoying the weather, the steady rythmic bobbing of Ash's shoulder was calming and tranquil, almost trance inducing. The group carried on walking, admiring the sheer beauty all around them in case they missed something. Pikachu quickly scampered off Ash's shoulder and went to a large flower field next to the path. He looked around before finding a light blue flower and walking back to Ash. He then ran up Ash's back, causing him to giggle and stood on his shoulder before poking his face.

'Pika'.

'What you got there buddy?' asked Ash, looking at Pikachu.

'Pika chu pi pikachupi pikapi'(from Ash to Misty) he said before putting the flower in Ash's face.

'Pikachu...it's beautiful, her favourite colour's blue I can't thank you enough buddy' he said in adoration before taking the flower. He then tickled Pikachu's ears before catching up to Misty, who was leading the group.

'Hey Mist?'

'Yeah Ash?' she replied before stopping and turning around. He showed her the flower before she gasped.

'Ash...it-it's beautiful'.

'I know, my pika pal found it!' he said, causing Pikachu to give his signature victory sign.

'Here I'll put it in your hair' he replied, gently sliding the flower into Misty's hair.

Misty looked at him in wonder before giving Pikachu a hug and Ash a quick kiss on the cheek, causing them to both blush.

'Gee Mist I...'

'Save it Ash, we've got a whole month together' she said with a wide smile on her face.

Ash also smiled before putting an arm around her shoulder. They both turned red but the moment was so perfect that neither wanted to ruin them.

'And I wouldn't want to spend it with anyone apart from you Mist' he said before they resumed their walk.

Ash and Misty had slowed down now which had caused the rest of the group.

'So Ash, I see you've finally built up the courage to tell her' smirked Drew.

'I don't have to tell her anything Drew, she's always known' replied Ash, causing Misty to turn bright red. Ash stopped walking, causing Misty to stop too. Max, Dawn, May, Drew, Iris, Cilan and Brock were all watching intently. He pulled her in close and put his hands round her waist. Ash was tense and extremely nervous. Misty looked up into Ash's eyes questioningly before realising he was sweating profusely. Ash looked extremely worried as if he was about to say something he might regret.

'Misty...I love you'.

Their audience gasped in shock, Ash had finally said it.

Misty felt like her world exploded. The one guy she actually cared about had just admitted he loved her. Images of him proposing, their wedding, their house and their children began to flash through her mind at speeds she couldn't comprehend. Misty hugged him tightly and he was more then happy to return it.

'For the last five years I've been waiting for you to say it Ash' she replied, crying.

Ash looked into her bright blue, glistening eyes.

'Your turn Mist' he said, significantly calmed down now.

'Ash Ketchum... I love-'

'I know' he interrupted and before she had a chance to finish, he pulled her into a deep kiss. The audience clapped happily, especially Brock who had also been waiting for five years for the two to finally admit it. They carried on the kiss before they finally broke it and just hugged. They stood like that for what seemed like an eternity, just in each other's embrace.

'Hey lover boy, there's beds at the cabin, might wanna get a move on' remarked Drew before he got a punch in the arm from May.

'Shush you, leave the couple alone!' she said whilst smiling.

'Oww alright, no need to be so violent about it' said Drew. Ash and Misty were bright red but were still in each other's embrace. Pikachu happily made his way in between the hugging couple so that he was being hugged by both sides.

'Chaaaaaa' he said in a relaxed tone.

'At least Pikachu's enjoying this as much as we are' said Ash, leaning his head against Misty's.

'No where near Ash...no where near' she replied, sinking her head into Ash's chest and basking in the perfect moment and closing her eyes.

'Mist I think we better get a move on, the cabin's about five minutes away and there'll be plenty of time for this over there' said Ash with a kind smile. Pikachu climbed out from between them and reclaimed his place on Ash's shoulder again.

'Yeah I guess' she said before reluctantly breaking the hug and walking on.

'Hey Misty where are you going?' asked Ash while walking towards her and taking her soft hand in his.

'I was just-'.

'Nope, from now on you don't go anywhere without me Mist' said Ash, squeezing her hand.

'And I wouldn't have it any other way Ash' she replied before they continued on their way. Pikachu smiled happily before jumping onto Misty's shoulder, a sign that he liked her as much as he liked Ash now.

'Hey there pikachu' she said, winking.

'Pika!' he said before nuzzling his little head against her soft cheek.

'Ash he's so cute!'.

'I know but my pika pal's also ridiculously powerful not to mention funny, loyal, AWESOME and the best friend anyone could ever have'.

Pikachu smiled at him before being tickled on the ears by Misty as the hand-holding couple(with the rest of the group behind them) walked towards the cabin.


	13. Chapter 13: Who's there?

The group carried on walking for about a minute before Ash stopped and stared ahead of them. The entire group came behind him and looked concerned.

'Ash what's wrong?' asked Misty, squeezing his hand.

'Guys...look there' he said, pointing his index finger.

The group followed his finger before looking shocked. In front of them was a hill with the path running over it. But the shocking part was what was appearing over the hill in the distance. Faint glows were appearing over the hill, in the direction the cabin was. After looking closely, they could make out the signature attacks; hyper beam, psybeam and razor leaf.

'The cabin's under attack!' shouted Ash before clenching Misty's hand.

Before the group had a chance to respond, Ash tore off down the path towards the cabin with Misty still in hand.

'Ash wait!' screamed the group, trying to keep up but Ash was too far ahead.

'Nothing's gonna ruin this reunion!' screamed Ash before running over the hill. Misty was struggling to keep up but admired Ash's determination towards stopping anything that could spoil their reunion. After about a minute of flat out running, Ash and Misty reached the top of the hill and the sight in front of them was shocking.

The luxury cabin was there, but instead of being in flames and with sections lying all over the forest, it was unscathed. They shifted their gaze to the large battlefield in front of it and saw two fierce Pokemon battles. By the looks of it, a Leafeon was against an Espeon and a Tyranitar was against...well...nothing. Ash and Misty, now glad that the cabin was unharmed, looked on in puzzlement as Tyranitar's form remained stationary.

The rest of the group had finally caught up and were panting to regain their breath before looking on in confusion.

'Maybe it's just lonely?' asked Max.

'I mean I'm no battle expert but shouldn't Tyranitar be fighting _something_?' asked Dawn.

Brock was smiling. 'Look closely guys' he said before folding his arms. The group looked closely before noticing something for a split second before it disappeared. Then it appeared again but vanished. It was a red glint but it could just be their imaginations.

Then they heard a voice shout 'Red use sword's dance'. They saw the faint red glint appear before they saw it. A Scizor appeared and began to spin rapidly in circles.

'This is awesome! Guys we gotta take a closer look!' shouted Ash enthusiastically.

The group nodded, all wanting to witness the battle up close before sprinting down the path to the battle. They arrived within seconds and watched in awe as the intense battle ensued in front of them. Two trainers were commanding their Pokemon with skill but they couldn't see them clearly yet.

'Well done, your doing a lot better Dex! Tyranitar use stone edge!' shouted the trainer on the left. Tyranitar nodded and began to throw razor sharp stones at the Scizor.

'Hahaha Evan I don't think so, Red use agility!' said the trainer on the right.

Scizor turned into the same blur that they had seen before as it dodged the stones easily before re-appearing.

'Good move Dex, but you can't rely solely on speed'.

'Wanna bet Evan? If there's one thing you taught me, it's to trust in your Pokemon, Red use bullet punch!' shouted the trainer on the right.

Scizor's claws turned into flashes of red as it began hammering the Tyranitar at extreme speeds.

'Damn, that Scizor's been well trained' remarked Brock. The rest of the group nodded before resuming watching the intense battle.

Tyranitar staggered backwards, hit but still in the fight.

'How's that for speed huh Evan?' said the right hand trainer.

'Impressive Dex , you're following what I taught you but now Red's tired so let's end this, TYRANITAR USE FIRE BLAST' screamed the trainer on the left.

Tyranitar recovered before opening it's mouth and sending out a beam of fire. Scizor tried to dodge it but was too tired from the bullet punch attack and so got hit head on.

'RED!' shouted the trainer to the right before running to his pokemon's side. The battle between the Espeon and Leafeon was put on hold as both trainers recalled their Pokemon and ran to the Scizor. Since Scizor was a bug and steel type, the fire blast had instantly knocked it out.

'I'm impressed Dex, your technique's improving rapidly, you really had me in trouble with that bullet punch' said the trainer on the left.

'Gee thanks Evan, if I keep on training with you I'll be unstoppable'.

'Don't worry about it buddy' he replied, before patting the other trainer on the back.

The two trainers then turned around to see the shocked teens in front of them.

'Hello umm can we help you?' asked the trainer on the left, holding out his hand to shake. He had a kind face with slightly tanned skin, and a brown beard. He looked like he was in his twenties and his bright blue eyes sparkled as he carelessly flicked back a lock of curly brown hair with his left hand. He was about average build and wore blue jeans with white sneakers, while his top half was clothed in a black shirt with a red short sleeve jacket.

Ash completely ignored his outstretched hand and went up to the trainer with his mouth wide open. Pikachu jumped off Misty's shoulder and landed on Ash's. The stranger stood directly in front of Ash before Ash reached out his hand and touched his face. The trainer looked at him in surprise as Ash continued to feel his face with his gloved hands. Both groups looked at him in shock but Ash seemed as if he was in a trance. After about four minutes of awkward, face feeling silence Ash felt he had sufficiently touched the trainer's face enough and took a step back with his mouth still wide open.

Nobody said a word and the trainer who had been touched by Ash just stood there, confused but grinning.

'I'm so sorry sir, Ash what's wrong with you? You can't just feel somebody's face, it's weird!' shouted Misty.

Ash didn't say a word but just stared at the trainer in front of him.

'I got this, don't worry Misty' said Brock before he walked upto Ash. 'Ash are you alright?' asked Brock wondering why Ash just did what he did.

'Brock...it's Evan'.

Brock turned to look at the trainer before his jaw too dropped wide open. They both just stared at the stranger in awe for what seemed like an eternity.

'ASH! BROCK! What's wrong with you and who is that?!' screamed Misty, wanting to know what the hell was going on.

Ash snapped out of his trance and came back to his senses.

'Mist...this guy standing in front of us...it's Evan Anthony Andrew Matthew Lewis'.

'Who's that?' asked Misty, still confused.

'Mist remember a couple of weeks back, we were at my house?'.

'Yeah'.

'We were watching a battle on my TV'.

'Yeah?'.

'Between the Pokemon Champion and a challenger'.

'Yeah?' said Misty.

'The champion had a Tyranitar'.

This was all Misty needed. Ash's shocked reactions, Brock's weirdness and the Tyranitar's power all slotted into place as the puzzle in her mind became solved.

'YOUR EVAN ANTHONY ANDREW MATTHEW LEWIS?!' screamed Misty.

'No way'.

'There's not a chance'.

'Impossible'

'Really?'

'How?', the group said at once.

The stranger in front of them blushed before rubbing the back of his head.

'Well...yeah but please, call me Evan' he said calmly.

'You were the Pokemon league champion four years ago!' screamed the group in unison.

'Yeah that's also true' replied Evan.

'We're standing next to a Pokemon league champion?' asked Misty.

'Yeah we are!' said Max enthusiastically.

'Chill you guys, I know let's sit down and talk, you all look like your going to die of shock' chuckled Evan, smiling at their acknowledgement.

Longest chapter yet;) drop a review and we'll see you next time!


	14. Chapter 14: The Gang

After recovering from their shock, the two group's sat down at the wooden picnic tables near the cabin.

'So you're the real Pokemon master?' asked Dawn, still taken aback.

'Well, I was about four years ago but there comes a time where you get bored of all that so you decide to just step back, that's when I met these guys about a week ago' said Evan, referring to the group behind him. Immediately they smiled happily and held out their hands towards Ash and his friends.

Firstly, the person who Evan had been battling stood up and walked to Ash.

'Hey there, I'm Dexter, but everyone calls me Dex' he said with a wink extending a braceleted hand. He wore purple trainers and turquoise skinny jeans, while he also wore a light blue shirt with white patterns on it. The front section of his hair was highlighted completely in dark blue while the rest was black. He wore large hipster glasses over his sparkling eyes and looked to be around Ash's age.

'Hey there, I'm Ash and these are my friends' said Ash, shaking his hand.

'Hi I'm Misty/ May/ Dawn/ Max/ Drew/ Brock/ Iris/ Cilan' they all chirped.

'It's a pleasure to meet you' he replied.

Then the other two trainers who's Leafeon vs Espeon battle had been interrupted before appeared from behind Evan.

'Hi I'm Jacob, and by the looks of it you've met Dex' said one of the newly appeared trainers. He had spiky blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He wore dark blue jeans and a grey T-shirt underneath his black hoodie. He wore high top red and black trainers with white soles and looked the same age as Dex and the rest of the teens.

'Hey, I saw your Leafeon battling before' said Dawn.

'Yeah it's a shame we had the battle but we had to tend to Red, it could have been serious' said Jacob, making his way over to the group.

Just as he was a metre from the group a green frog appeared in front of him and began to shake everyone's hand.

'RIBBLE HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I GOT TO TELL YOU?!' screamed Jacob, 'you don't have to shake everyone's hand'.

Politoed looked at him before mischeviously winking and resumed shaking everyone's hand.

'Aww it's so cute' remarked Misty, 'I've got one too'.

'Really?'.

'Yeah watch, go Politoed!' she said whilst throwing a pokeball into the air.

A Politoed appeared, face to face with Jacob's Politoed. They both looked at each other with fixed expressions on their face before smiling widely and shaking each other's hands.

'Politoed, you've got a new friend!' said Jacob enthusiastically. Politoed looked at him with a grin before resuming the handshaking.

Whilst this was taking place, the Espeon trainer came over and decided to introduce himself.

'Hello guys, I'm Adrian' said the trainer with a wink. He wore a grey tracksuit which was covered in mud and had long black hair with red highlights.

'Sorry, me and Espeon were training before, I'm a mess' he said sheepishly.

'Don't worry about it, me and Pikachu always train and someone always has to have a change of clothes when Pikachu fries what their wearing, isn't that right buddy?' said Ash to Pikachu on his right shoulder.

'Pika!' He replied before giving him the signature Pikachu victory sign.

Adrian smiled before sitting back on the picnic table with everyone else.

'So Dex I saw you battling before, your Scizor's really awesome' remarked Misty, causing Dex to blush.

'Yeah well, me and Red know each other inside out he's just awesome, only problem is when this guy here decides to use a freakin FIRE BLAST whilst training!' he said with a smile, patting Evan on the back.

'Yeahyeah just because you've got all eight badges doesn't mean I'm gonna go easy on you kiddo' he replied before playfully punching Dex on the arm.

'You've got all eight badges?' asked the group.

'Yeah I've completed the other league challenges but I didn't want to be a champion who was stuck in one place so whenever they were about to give me the crown, I disappeared and began training for a different league. Indigo league's the hardest so I decided to train hard which is when I met this guy' he said, pointing at Evan.

'That's awesome! the league's in 5 months right?' asked Ash.

'Yep, good time to get some hardcore training in' he said, 'but I wouldn't have come this far if it wasn't for Adrian, Jacob and the rest of us'.

'There's more of you guys?' asked Ash's group in unison.

'Yeah, everyone else went to find firewood but as usual we decided to train' replied Jacob.

'So how come you guys are here?' asked Misty, resting her chin on her hand.

'Well, Dex wanted to come and train in the countryside and since Lo's water and grass, he's been having the time of his life' remarked Arian.

'Lo?' questioned Brock, intigued.

Jacob pointed to a group of lilypads in the centre of the lake.

'Come and meet everyone Lo!' shouted Dex.

Immediately, one of the lilypads began to jiggle before it began to move towards them. Ash and the other's looked on in shock before they realised what it was. The lilypad slowly crawled onto land before revealing what was beneath the lilypad. It was a lotad. It's blue body was wet and it had the happiest smile any Pokemon had as it walked towards them.

'Tad!' it exclaimed happily before Dex picked it up and held it in his arms.

'Lo, meet out new friends' said Dexter, introducing his Lotad.

'Lotad!' it cried happily.

'Hello there Lo' said Misty, stroking it's lilypad.

'You've not met the rest of the gang yet' said Dex beaming happily.


	15. Chapter 15: You're kidding!

Dex put down his Lotad and then threw out two pokeballs, 'come on out guys!'.

There was a large flash of white two clearly powerful Pokemon appeared in front of them.

'Well, I take it you've met Red already' said Dex.

'Yeah we have and he was absolutely amazing' said Iris in awe.

Red nodded at Iris, acknowledging her compliment before Dex carried on. 'This is Shadow' he said before hugging the Umbreon that had appeared at his side. Shadow fondly nuzzled into his trainer before Dex stroked his ears. 'Shadow and Red have been through a tough day today, but their really strong so they'll be fine' he said before pointing to his feet. 'And this is Lo again' he said as the group followed his finger to his feet. They then looked confused as they realised nothing was there. 'Lo?' asked Dex, clearly worried. Shadow then rubbed his trainer's leg causing Dex to look at him. It then went about 2 metres away from them and put it's head into a small ditch. The group followed Shadow and saw what he was referring to. In the ditch was Lo, upside down with his legs flailing helplessly in the air. Shadow then went and using his nose, tipped Lo onto his feet. Lotad smiled happily before trying to walk off again. 'Oh no you don't' said Dex before picking him up and holding him in his arms. 'Lo's a little adventurer aren't you pal? he said before stroking it's bill.

Lotad smiled happily before Dawn looked confused. 'Dex you said you had a team?'.

'Yeah I do but the rest of the guys are resting for now, they've earned it a million times over' replied Dex before they made their way back to the tables and sat down.

'So where are you guys staying?' inquired Misty.

'Well, we were staying in our tents over there' said Jacob, pointing into the trees. 'That is until, hotshot Pokemon Champion here decided to torch them with his Tyranitar' added Adrian.

Evan looked sheepish before saying 'come on Adrian I'm sorry! But in my defence they wouldn't have been torched if Shadow here wasn't so damn fast and dodged Tyranitar's hyper beam' he said while affectionately stroking Shadow's ears.

'Yeahyeah excuses excuses' replied Adrian while rolling his eyes.

'We were staying over there until 'the incident' happened this morning. We knew that some nice people owned this cabin and we hoped they wouldn't mind if we decided to do a little training' finished Jacob.

'Well, I own this cabin' said Misty with a smile. Jacob and his friends looked at eachother in shock.

'Listen Misty, we're really sorry we didn't ask your permission before using the field, we'll go now don't worry' said Evan, getting up from the table. The rest of the group followed and began to get up from the table.

'No no it's fine honestly' said Misty putting her hand on Evan's shoulder and signalling to the rest of the group to sit down as well.

'That battle was amazing' she replied.

Evan and Dex smiled before Adrian chimed in. 'In answer to your question before, we're sleeping under the stars tonight' he said.

Misty looked around at the rest of her group for approval. They nodded at her before she turned around to face Evan and his group. 'Actually, we'd be really happy if you guys stayed at the cabin with us, there's a LOT of space and it's be fun bunking with a pokemon league champion and his friends' she said with a smile.

Jacob looked around at his group in awe. 'You really mean that?' he asked.

'Yeah and I know Ash is itching to have a tournament at some point'. Ash looked at her with a bright smile on his face and nodded.

'That's insanely nice of you guys' said Dex before looking around at his group. They all looked at each other before Jacob replied 'yes, it would be awesome'.

'That settles it, let's go and unpack right now, this next month's gonna be unreal' shouted Ash, throwing his fist in the air in celebration.

'Dex you've not introduced us' said two voices behind them.

Everyone turned around to face two teens around the same age as Ash all holding armfuls of firewood.

'Hey guys, these are our new friends' said Adrian before pointing towards the other group.

'Hey I'm Ash'.

'I'm Misty!'.

'Iris!'.

'Cilan'.

'May'.

'Drew'.

'Max'.

'Dawn'.

'Pika pikachu!' shouted Pikachu enthusiastically from Ash's shoulder.

'Pleased to meet you, I'm Sam' said the teen on the left. He wore green and brown combats with muddy black boots. He had close cropped brown spiky hair and aviator glasses covering his eyes. He was about 6 feet tall built relatively well, and seemed to be thinking about something.

'Why hello there-' he started to Misty, lowering his glasses before Dex hurriedly jumped up, and whispered something in his ear. Sam looked at Ash, then Misty before nodding and putting his gold aviators back over his eyes and laughing nervously.

'Hehe that's a very cute Pikachu Ash' he said quickly in an attempt to cover up what had just said. Ash, who hadn't caught on to what had just happened replied 'yeah my Pikachu's awesome' he said before patting Pikachu on his head.

'Yeah well meet Aaron' said Sam before quickly and nervously picking up the teen next to him and planting him on the ground in front of him. He put the firewood down before smiling happily and waving to everyone. 'Hey I'm Aaron!' he said enthusiastically. On his head he wore a black cap to cover up his neat blonde hair while he wore a white pokeball design T-shirt beneath a black hoodie. He also had torn denim jeans and red slip on shoes.

'Hey Aaron' said the group, glad to see such a happy person.

'So what's going on guys?' asked Aaron.

'Well Aaron, Misty and her friends said that we can stay with them for the next month in the cabin' said Jacob.

Aaron and Sam's jaws dropped as they looked at the luxury cabin to Misty.

'Your kidding' they said in unison.

'Nope, it's a done deal, isn't it Shadow and Lo?' said Dex.

His two pokemon then nodded their heads before smiling enormously.

Aaron and Sam looked at each other in shock.

'Well, sounds to me like the next month's gonna be one worth sticking around for' said Sam before taking Aaron's black cap and throwing it into the air.

'LET'S DO IT!' they all screamed.


	16. Chapter 16: The tents

Immediately, the group began to unpack. Now, normally it would be a relatively easy task which involves just taking a bag, opening and unpacking it, right? Wrong! Half of the camping equipment had been burnt during Evan's Tyranitar's hyper beam.

Flashback

'Alright Dex are you sure you're up to this?' asked Evan.

'Oh please Evan, do you not remember what Sparky just did to Pidgeot?'.

'I remember perfectly Dex, but this is Tyranitar'.

'Don't worry about us, Tyranitar's the one in trouble pal'.

'I like your spirit Dex, Tyranitar come on out!' shouted Evan, throwing a pokéball in the air.

Immediately a flash of white appeared before forming a large, powerful looking Tyranitar. It was clearly strong and it was no surprise Evan had been a Pokémon champion if he had Tyranitar with him.

'Alright then, Shadow buddy I choose YOU!' shouted Dex before throwing out a pokéball. There was a flash of black before black stars started exploding from the pokéball. After they had stopped, the agile form of Umbreon appeared.

'Show off' laughed Evan.

'Yeah well we need a badass entry for a badass Pokémon right Shadow?' said Dex while smiling. Shadow looked at his trainer before smiling.

'Umbreon!' it said before readying itself in its battle position.

Tyranitar looked at its opponent. Umbreon was one of its closest friends and it didn't really want to injure it after all the fun they'd had together.

Being the champion trainer that he was, Evan immediately knew what Tyranitar was thinking. 'It's alright buddy you don't have to injure your friend, it's training so we'll take it easy alright?' he said with a smile. Tyranitar smiled, happy to have such a knowing trainer. Shadow also looked worried before Dex chimed in. 'Don't worry buddy we'll stick with your speed so no-one gets hurt'.

Umbreon looked at his trainer before smiling and turning back to face Tyranitar.

'UMBREON/TYRAN!' they shouted, showing they were ready.

'ALRIGHT! This will be a one on one battle between Evan and D-' started Sam.

'Shut up Sam it's just training!' shouted Aaron who was standing next to him.

'Sorry but its really fun saying that' said Sam sheepishly before turning back towards the battle. The onlookers had no idea how this would turn out since it was strength versus speed.

Jacob was sitting next to Adrian, Sam and Aaron before crossing his arms and looking at the two opponents. 'This is gonna be interesting guys' he said knowledgably.

'How come?' they asked.

'Well think about it, they're both dark types except Shadow's a generic dark type. That means they'll each have mainly dark type moves. Therefore no-one has really got an edge on his opponent making it a pure battle of strength and stamina' he said, still staring at the battlefield.

'Damn, this should be worth watching' said Sam in awe from the sidelines.

'You ready Dex?' asked Evan.

'As ready as I'll ever be bro' Dex replied.

'Let the battle...BEGIN' shouted Aaron and Sam together.

Evan immediately sprung into action. 'Tyranitar give it an Ice Fang!'.

Tyranitar nodded before running towards Shadow with its teeth glowing.

'Shadow, Dark Pulse let's go!'.

Shadow turned fully black before firing a beam of darkness straight at Tyranitar who was stopped in its tracks.

The onlookers looked at Jacob in confusion before he calmly stated 'don't worry, that's a TM'. They all immediately understood and reverted back to the battle.

Since Tyranitar was also a dark type, it didn't take much damage but was still injured and panting.

'Nicely done Dex, Shadow's improved a lot!' said Evan.

'Thanks bro, Shadow's awesome' said Dex before Shadow 'purred' affectionately(I don't know what an Umbreon does!).

'All right let's turn this up a notch, Tyranitar let's use Rage!'.

Tyranitar looked round to Evan in horror as it knew what it could do when in rage mode.

'Don't worry Ty, we'll take it easy and plus, your not going to help your friend if you don't train hard with him'.

Tyranitar understood and nodded. He wanted his friend to become strong and win the Pokémon league like he had done. He slowly turned red as his anger increased. He then grew to be a terrifying sight as Dex looked on in fear.

'Alright Shadow don't be afraid buddy, we've got this'.

Truth betold, Shadow was absolutely terrified. He had first hand experience of what could happen when an opponent used Rage. They lost control of themselves and mercilessly attacked without any emotion. Shadow shook off any fears he had and readied himself for the fight ahead.

'Tyranitar FIRE BLAST!' shouted Evan.

Tyranitar's bulky green form slowly took in whatever oxygen it could in order to heat up the fire inside it.

Dex watched it do this but...something seemed wrong. He looked at the battlefield. 'What's wrong?' he thought, 'there's Shadow, Evan, Lo, me...wait...LO?!'.

He looked on in shock as Lo happily walked along the battlefield, its happy form swaying as it walked. Tyranitar would have stopped the second it saw Lo but it was in Rage mode. For a split second all the trainers; Evan, Dex, Jacob, Adrian, Sam and Aaron all thought the same thing.

'LO GET OUT OF THE WAY!' they all screamed in their heads but none of them could get a sound out as they helplessly watched Tyranitar power up for the inevitable fire blast.

Shadow saw what was happening an immediately sprung into action just as the fire blast was released. It used agility and became a flash of speed before getting to the carefree Lotad. It then bit onto its lilypad and used agility again to get out of the danger zone, narrowly avoiding the fire blast by inches.

'SHADOW BUDDY ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!' Screamed Dex before running to the aid of his Pokémon. He hugged it before Shadow nodded and nuzzled him affectionately.

Dex began to cry as he hugged his Shadow. 'I don't know what I'd do without you Shadow', he said while clutching him against his chest.

Shadow understood what had just happened and tried to calm him down as Tyranitar was still in Rage mode and the danger level was still extremely high. Using it's snout, it raised Dex's head to face him before smiling and nodding. Dex wiped his tears away before whispering 'thanks Shadow, I love ya bro'.

Shadow gave him a friendly 'Umbreon!' before once again grabbing Lo's lilypad in its mouth and using Agility to get to Sam and Aaron. Sam quickly took Lo from Shadow and held him in his arms. Then he crouched down and took off his glasses before stroking Shadow's soft, black ears.

'That was a really brave thing you just did Shadow, not anyone could do that' he said.

Shadow acknowledged him and smiled at Sam. He really liked and respected Sam and so was really happy at this compliment. Sam gave it a final stroke before using Agility, Shadow got back into the battlefield so that Tyranitar couldn't hurt anyone without knowing. There would be time for congratulations later, right now it was just important to survive Tyranitar's Rage mode.

'Wow, Shadow really treats Lo like a little brother' observed Aaron whilst stroking the happy little Lotad on its head.

Shadow nodded to Evan to let him know it was okay to attack.

Evan was at a loss for words. In all his life, he had never seen a Pokemon do such a selfless act. He nodded back before reluctantly shouting 'HYPER BEAM'. Evan heartstrings clenched as he really didn't want to use such a powerful attack against Shadow since he loved Dex's Pokémon too. But this was the only way to make him stronger and as a champion, he knew this all to well.

Tyranitar looked at Shadow before an orange glow started to form in its mouth. 'Shadow let's dodge it!'.

Shadow waited until the beam came at him with furious aggression. He quickly dodged to the left of it before glancing back at his trainer. Time slowed down as he pinpointed the Hyper Beam's trajectory. It was heading straight towards Dex and there was nothing he could do about it. The trainer he loved so much was about to be destroyed.

Dex looked in shock as the Hyper Beam hurtled towards him. No words came was frozen. He just looked at Shadow with a smile before raising his hands over his face in futile defence against the Hyper Beam. Oddly enough, instead of utter annihilation, he felt as if a baseball bat hit him full power in the stomach and his body went flying out of the Hyper Beam's trajectory and landed hard on the ground. But the Hyper Beam didn't stop there. Evan watched in shock as it carried on towards the tents that they had been sleeping in and destroyed half of the campsite.

Adrian hadn't noticed what had happened with Dex. Completely oblivious to what just occurred he said 'gee Evan if you didn't like the tents that much, you could've just told us'. The group ignored his comment and looked in awe at the camp.

Meanwhile Dex had just found himself on the floor wih a huge pain in his chest. He spluttered and everything became blurry. He opened his eyes to see the form of Shadow who seemed to be crying if that was possible.

'You used Shadow Ball on me didn't ya pal?' he asked before Shadow slowly nodded.

'Don't worry about hurting me, you did brilliantly buddy' said Dex before writhing in pain.

Shadow smiled before becoming worried at his trainer's pain. Shadow Ball was the only move that would have got him out danger fast enough but his trainer was still hurt.

'First you saved Lo, then me, gee Shadow your a hero' he said before affectionately stroking Shadow who was trying to smile. Dex looked slowly to his left to see his worried friends running towards him before slowly drifting into an unconcious state.


	17. Chapter 17: Moving in

'And that's really what happened?' asked May intrigued to the earlier events.

'Yep, detail by detail, Jacob and Evan made Dex some medicine and gave him some food but Shadow Ball's a super powerful move' said Sam, brushing the dirt off his much loved combats.

May, Drew, Max, Dawn, Aaron, Sam, Jacob, Adrian and Evan were walking over to where the remains of the campsite were. It was a site for sore eyes with pieces of tent, wood, poles and various other things scattered around. However the bagpacks seemed to be fine as they were left away from the campsite after Evan had tripped over Aaron's bag at 2 o'clock in the morning and landed in the breakfast.

'Only problem is, Dex isn't the one that's really hurt ' stated Sam.

The rest of the group looked at him in confusion before he took off his aviators to reveal his bright blue eyes. He skillfully twirled them round his finger before attatching them to the back of his collar and returning his gaze back to the camp.

'Shadow's still heartbroken over what happened and thinks Dex's is just putting on a brave face. You have to understand, in order to get Dex out of the line of fire fast enough, he needed to use the strongest Shadow Ball he had'. The group understood before becoming saddened by the story.

'Shadow's been with Dex and us all since the first day and well, seeing him like that's really taken its toll, Dex only regained conciousness about an hour before you guys arrived' continued Sam before looking back at the following group.

'But they'll be fine, happy times, yipee doo-dah' said Aaron quickly, trying to get everyone's moods happy again. It seemed to work a bit as everyone recalled seeing Dex's enthusiasm when battling Evan with Red. They knew he would be fine so concentrated at the task on hand.

'Alright guys we need to look for whatever's salvageable so we can take it back to the cabin and unpack' said Sam before scouring the ex-camp.

'Let's do it' said the group. They split up and began to look through the charred remains of anything that might be of value or still intact.

'Hey Adrian you find anything?' asked Aaron.

'Yeah, looks as if our cooking stuff's fine' he said before triumphantly holding various pots and pans in the air.

'Awesome!' cried Aaron before they got back to work.

The camp was fairly small and so they quickly found anything that was still of value and put in their bags within half an hour.

'I think we just about got everything' said Sam before hauling his bag onto his shoulders. It was a large camo rucksack that was filled with the various essential items that his group needed.

Evan quickly grabbed his green backpack before noticing Dex's purple backpack lying there. Dex was with Ash and the rest so he quickly and discretely picked up Dex's bag and tried to carry it as well but it was too heavy.

'Damn, what the hell has he got in here?!' He mumbled to himself before trying again. He turned around to see Sam behind him.

'Your gonna need a hand with that Evan, Dex took the insta from your bag without telling you since you'd been carrying it around for some time, no-one's strong enough to carry both' he said before putting a hand into his pocket.

Evan smiled at Dex's concern for him as Sam pulled out a small pokéball before pressing the button to enlarge it and then throwing it.

'Sandslash, we're gonna need your help' said Sam as the whitelight formed a powerful looking Sandslash. It immediately yawned before hugging Sam who crouched down and hugged it back.

'You feeling up to it?' he asked before Sandslash gave an enthusiastic 'Slash!'. It would do anything not to let down the trainer it loved so much.

'Alright then, if it gets to hard you let me know okay? I know you can pick up about six of those bags but after the training we had yesterday we still don't know how well you've recovered'.

Sandslash nodded, knowing fully well that its trainer just wanted the best for it. Sam smiled and stroked Sandslash's soft head.

'Thanks Sandslash' he said before putting a hand in his bag and pulling out a green beret. He put it onto Sandslash's head before adjusting it.

'Slash!' it said before running and picking up Dex's bag and carrying it to Sam. He smiled before taking it from him and carefully sliding Sandslash's arms through it so that it wouldn't be damaged.

'Now be careful with this buddy, Dex is obsessed with this bag as we all know so well and it's got the insta in too '.

Sandslash nodded recalling Dex's love for this purple checkered backpack.

'Aww your Sandslash looks so cute in that beret!' screamed May in adoration before running to Sandslash and stroking its head.

'Thanks May' said Sam, happy that May complimented Sandslash.

'Well, let's not keep them waiting' said Aaron as he ushered the group back to the cabin. They all followed him as they made their way out of the woods and to the cabin.

'So Aaron, Sam what's the deal with you guys' asked Drew, intrigued at their backstory.

'Well, we were all best friends since the age of four and played together every day back in Viridian, then came our tenth birthdays' started Sam, signalling for Aaron to carry on as they walked.

'We had to pick our starters but the only problem was, they didn't have the normal ones for some reason. We complained at this outrage but Dex told us it could be a good thing and that we'd be the odd ones out, you know like the hipsters of the Pokémon world' said Aaron with a smile.

'So we picked our starters; Dex picked an Eevee, Sam here picked his Sandslash('Slash!'), Aaron picked Turtwig, Jacob picked Poliwag and I picked my Litwick' said Adrian, adjusting his backpack.

'Then we all went on our jouney together, always looking out for each other, Dex won three leagues, Aaron won two and forgot to turn up to the next one' laughed Jacob.

'Yeah I had all eight badges too, just I might have...overslept' said Aaron sheepishly.

'I've won two as well but I didn't want to participate in the Indigo league until I knew for sure that my team was as strong as they could be, which is why we came out here to train' said Sam.

May, Max, Drew and Dawn all nodded before looking confused at Jacob.

'What about you?' asked Dawn.

'Ahh I prefer learning about the types and biology of Pokémon, I'm more of an adventuring scientist...but I still put up a mean battle' said Jacob.

They all nodded, about to look at Adrian before realising they had arrived at the cabin.

'I'll tell you about me later, we need to go and unpack' he said urgently.

'Okeydokey, let's go and find Misty so we can get our rooms' said Aaron.

They knocked on the door to the cabin before a smiling face opened the door.

'You guys are back already!' said Misty, her voice full of excitement.

'Well yeah we need to unpack before we can have any fun' said Aaron.

Misty looked at him before showing the new arrivals her Pokétch. 'Look at what time it is guys, any fun will have to wait for tomorrow' she said.

Aaron leaned in before looking at her Pokétch. It was seven o'clock already.

'Wow today went really quickly' he said with a shock.

'Yeah I know, let's go and find your rooms' she said before moving aside and ushering them in. The group walked inside in complete shock. A 'luxury' cabin was a total understatement. It was gigantic. To the left, there was the central living room with multiple blue and pink sofas, bean bags and a large plasma screen TV in the corner. To the right of it was the kitchen; blue tiles covered the walls, housing every single cooking appliance they could dream of with a large glass table in the middle. The chrome appliances seemed to glint in the light from the chandelier. Directly between the atrium and the kitchen were a set of stairs that led up to the second floor which had all the bedrooms on it.

'I didn't think cabins had second floors' said Aaron in shock.

'They don't, but this one does' said Misty with a playful wink.

The second floor was essentially a corridoor filled with doors to the various rooms, with blue wallpaper concealing the walls.

'Damn..' said Sam.

'I know right?!' Misty squealed.

Sam and Aaron looked at each other before nodding. They slowly moved towards the unsuspecting Misty before...

'THANK YOU SO MUCH MISTY' they cried as they hugged her tightly.

'Aww no worries guys, we'll have plenty of fun, now please let me go! I'm still hurting from when Dex did the same thing' she laughed.

The group smiled before taking off their bags and sitting down in the calm atmosphere of the living room.


	18. Chapter 18: Cabin fever!

2K views in a week?! Wow it really looks like you guys are enjoying this. We're struggling to keep up! But here's another chapter, drop a review please and enjoy;)

They all collapsed in a heap on the sofas, exhausted at the walk with the excess weight on their shoulders.

'Phew, that took a lot out of me' sighed Evan.

'Yeah tell me about it' said Sam, relaxing fully into the comfort of the sofas.

Misty looked at them all with a smile, glad that everyone was finally in one place.

Suddenly Evan looked concerned. 'How's Dex holding up?' he asked fearfully.

'Oh he's fine I think, Ash, Brock, Iris, Cilan and him are in the back setting up the campfire' she calmly stated.

Evan was relieved to say the least although he knew fully well that Dex could have just been putting on a charade.

'And Shadow?' he asked.

'He's with them too'.

Evan knew they would be fine and that Shadow would be happy with them all around him.

'Alright, I say we go and help them before we can unpack' said Aaron.

'Times two bro' they said before fistbumping.

'Times three' joined in Adrian.

'Four' said Evan.

'Fiv-' started Jacob.

'LET'S JUST ALL GO!' shouted Drew before standing up. The group laughed before standing up and following him.

They walked through the living room, past the stairs and reached the glass back door. Drew opened it and walked out before being followed by the rest of the group.

They walked outside to be greeted by the cool mid-evening breeze. Directly ahead of them, were Iris, Pikachu, Dex, Shadow, Cilan, Ash and Brock all working together to make a small pyramid out of the various firewood pieces that Aaron, Sam and Adrian had brought.

'Carefully does it Iris' said Brock, watching as Iris placed the last piece on the pyramid.

Iris placed the piece on the campfire before they all stood back and admired their handiwork. They hadn't noticed Sam's group arrive and so stood their before Pikachu and Shadow's ears began to twitch. 'Pika/Umbreon!' they shouted as Pikachu jumped into May's arms and Umbreon nuzzled Aaron's leg.

'Hey there guys, we're back' said Sam, waving to the campfire group.

They waved back before Dex asked 'how much stuff did you guys manage to recover?'.

'Quite a bit actually' said Adrian before stepping aside so that they could see the various backpacks lying in the atrium.

'Oh and Dex I know about you playing the hero and carrying the insta around' said Evan.

'Yeah well, you've been carrying it around for some time and its pretty damn heavy so I thought I'd help' said Dex sheepishly.

'Aww come on you didn't have to do that, your shoulders must be killing' replied Evan, walking closer to Dex to see if any damage had been done.

'Yeah well, better me then anyone else Evan'.

'You and you stupid hero complex' laughed Aaron.

'Come on, we all know Shadow's the hero here' said Dex before stroking Shadow again.

'Yeah guys we didn't congratulate him properly for those daredevil saves he did before' said Sam in a surprise tone.

'Let's do it now then!' said Adrian as the entire group moved in to stroke and congratulate Shadow on its success.

Shouts of 'well done' and 'good job' surrounded Shadow before he realised something was wrong. Dex wasn't there any more. He accepted the thank you's while wondering what had happened to his trainer.

Meanwhile, around the side of the cabin Dex was ambling along before tripping over a stone and falling down hard onto the ground. He didn't even try to get up as he lay there in pain. Panting for breath, he lifted up his shirt to see a deep purple bruise covering the left side of his chest. He put down his shirt before lying down again. Shadow loved him and would be heartbroken to see the damage he had accidentally done so Dex had waited until he was distracted before going alone to see what it looked like.

He looked up into the sky. Red and dark blue streaks covered the sky as if someone had decorated it with large, vibrant paintstrokes. He admired the beauty before he began to wheeze and cough in a violent fit. He carried on coughing, his body aching before he put his hand to his mouth.

Blood.

'Shit, that's not good' he said in disbelief as he looked at the blood on his fingers.

'Alright, just act normal, everything will be okay' he said to himself as he wiped the blood on the ground and walked back to the group.

They were helping tidy up around the unlit campfire by throwing away all the excess firewood.

'Oh hey Dex your back' said Sam happily.

'Yeah I am' Dex said whilst forcing a smile.

Evan looked at his best friend questionably as he knew something wasn't right. Dex noticed this before panicking and changing the conversation.

'Urghh umm so hey Misty, are we gonna sing campfire songs today?' he asked, gritting his teeth against the pain.

'No I'm sorry guys, its too late for that now and we're all exhausted. We'll just get to our rooms and have a good night's sleep before the fun begins tomorrow'.

Dex was beginning to feel light headed and dizzy.

'Yeah sure let's do that right now' he said quickly.

'Alright, guys get your bags and lets go' she said with a smile.

They left the camp and walked inside before retrieving their bags. They followed Misty up the wooden steps onto the second floor before standing in the corridoor and looking at the various blue doors in wonder.

'Now this is the tricky par-' started Misty.

'Misty, Ash, Iris, Cilan' interrupted Sam before pointing at the room on the left. 'Me, Aaron, Jacob, Adrian' he pointed to another blue door. 'Brock, Dex and Evan you guys get that one' he said before finally pointing at another bright blue door.

Everyone looked at Sam in awe before he began to shuffle his feet nervously.

'Yeah well, I knew Misty would take some time so I took matters into my own hands hehe hope you don't mind Misty' said Sam while looking at the floor.

'No...Sam I don't mind at all' she said.

'Yeah I bet you wouldn't, you've got Ash in your room' said May with a giggle.

Misty turned bright red before screaming 'yeah well you've got Drew in yours!'. Drew and May looked in different directions before Sam winked at Misty.

'Well it looks like I did a perfect job as usual' he laughed, 'come on guys let's get some sleep its nine already and we need to get up early tomorrow'. Aaron nodded and opened his door.

'Damn' he said as his jaw dropped. Similiar noises of shock could be heard from the others as they opened their doors. The rooms were mostly identical with blue wallpaper lining the walls, keeping to the theme of the cabin. On both sides of Aaron's room were wooden bunk beds with a sidetable in the middle. There was a bathroom on either side, housing state-of-the-art showers and sinks. On the far side of the room was a dresser with a large mirror over it. The dresser itself was a bulky, wooden one with hairdryers and various other appliances littering the top.

Squeals of excitement came from the girls as they looked at where they would be staying for the next month.

'Misty once again, thank you' said Aaron, his voice travelling through the door and into Misty's room. Similiar 'thank you's' could be heard from the room before Misty told them to go to sleep and thank her the next morning.

Aaron, Adrian, Jacob and Sam looked at the beds before slowly looking around to see each other. They immediately knew what they were thinking and all jumped for the top bunks.

'MINE!' shouted Jacob climbing onto the top bed.

'Already called' said Aaron coolly as Jacob noticed the black cap that had been hastily thrown on the bed.

'Damn it' he said as he climbed back down before Aaron gleefully climbed up the wooden ladder and reclaimed his hat.

Ash's room had been more civil with Cilan and Ash allowing Misty and Iris to both take the top bunks while they lay on the bottom beds. Drew and Max had done the same thing and were checking their bags to make sure everything was still there. Brock was downstairs admiring the kitchen and testing out the various appliances there so would not be up for some time.

Meanwhile, Evan walked into his room before noticing there was only one bunk bed in the room.

'Don't worry guys I'll-' started Evan.

'Don't even think about it champ, you and Brock take the beds I'll be fine' said Dex quickly as he walked into the room.

'I don't think so buddy, you got hit by a Shadow Ball today. No way am I letting you sleep on the floor'.

'Well you've got no choice bro'.

'Dex-'.

'Look at me, I'll be fine. Take the bed and have a good night's rest, I've got Shadow it'll be okay'.

Evan was just about to argue with his friend before Shadow appeared in the door.

'Come on Shadow, say goodnight to Evan' said Dex quickly. Shadow ran upto Evan and nuzzled his head against Evan's leg. 'Good night Shadow and Dex, you're taking the bed tomorrow buddy' said Evan while stroking the Pokémon.

'I don't think so' whispered Dex under his breath as he walked out of their room and into Sam's.

'Sam you got my sleeping bag?' he asked before Sam nodded and walked towards his rucksack. After rummaging through it, he found Dex's sleeping bag and unhooked the mat from the front.

'Here you are bro'.

'Thanks man, good night' he said as he walked out with the sleeping bag and mat in his arms.

Dex walked into his room before struggling to open the bag the sleeping bag was in. As if on cue, Jacob walked in and held out his hand.

Dex smiled as he gave the bag to Jacob.

'I'm sure you've got problems or something Dex' said Jacob as he skilfully untied the knot and pulled out the sleeping bag.

'Not wrong there Jacob' smirked Evan as they high fived each other.

'Yeahyeah guys laugh it off' said Dex with a smile.

Jacob picked up the mat and laid it on the floor before expertly spinning the bag and laying it on the mat. 'Oh and Dex actually sleep in it this time' smiled Jacob knowing full well that his friend wouldn't'.

'Yeah sure'.

'Every night since we were ten, he needed someone to get that bag out of it' he said with a smile before walking back out of the room.

'Night Jacob' called out Dex and Evan together.

'Alright Shadow get in' said Dex immediately, ushering the Umbreon into the sleeping bag. Shadow looked at him worriedly before walking into it and lying down.

'You know, I still don't get why you don't just recall Shadow' said Evan while lying in his bed.

'Shadow's like Sam's Sandslash, apart from the entrance it hates pokéballs and it loves sleeping bags' said Dex before fluffing up the pillow for Shadow.

'Yeah whatever, night buddy' said Evan before getting up to turn off the light and lying down.

'Night Evan, night Shadow' said Dex as he laid down on the floor next to Shadow.

Shadow looked at his trainer in worry, he seemed to be fine but he should really have taken the sleeping bag instead of giving it to him. He looked at Evan's snoring form before drifting into a deep sleep.


	19. Chapter 19: The Shock in the night

Well guys that was the longest chapter there was;) Also, the latest chapter of Evan AAML's 'R' is up so read that before you read anything we've written! He's keeping us all on edge by writing painnnfulllyyyy slow Evan I WANNA SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO MATHINZA AND DAWN!

Ahem...anyway here's the chapter;)

Evan was dreaming.

Many things were flying around in his head while he was asleep; memories of the Pokémon championship, his friends, falling through the sky. He was in a deep sleep with many subconcious thoughts projecting themselves against his mind. That is, until he felt it.

It came slowly at first, just a small poking against his cheek and he couldn't be sure if he had imagined it or not. Then it came again, harder this time.

'Dex I'm not training now, leave me alone' he mumbled before turning over. At the mention of Dex, the poking seemed to increase speed, becoming rapid and more desperate until Evan reluctantly tore himself from his slumber and turned over. The poking stopped immediately.

It took him a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness but shapes slowly began to make themselves more apparent. Like for instance, it wasn't a hand poking him but a soft, black paw. Evan found himself face to face with Shadow. His rings began to glow as he looked worriedly at Evan.

Evan rubbed his eyes before tiredly saying 'Oh hey there Shadow what's up'.

Shadow looked worried and seemed to be crying.

'Shadow what's wrong?' he asked while stroking him. If Shadow woke him up this early in the morning then it must have been serious.

Shadow jumped onto the dresser and quickly hit the light with its paw. Evan retracted in pain as the white light flooded his eyes. He became used to it before realising what was wrong.

Shadow's tears, waking him up in the night and the worry. The realisation hit him hard and he wanted to scream.

Lying there, on the hard wooden floor was Dex. Ordinarily, this would have been fine and normal for Dex since he always made Shadow stay in the sleeping bag. But Dex wasn't moving. To make matters worse, the floor around him was covered in blood.

Evan looked at Shadow and then Dex in disbelief. He jumped off the bed and landed next to Dex before shaking him hard.

'DE-DEX, DEX TALK NOW BUDDY WAKE UP'.

Dex drowsily opened his eyes before wheezing and coughing. Blood came from his mouth and landed on the floor around him.

'Oh hey Evan how you doing bro?' he asked before turning his head and noticing the blood around him. His face immediately became one of concern as he looked at the blood.

'Shit Evan, that's a lot of blood are you okay man?' he asked. Tears began to well in Evan's eyes but before he could answer, Dex's head fell back down and landed on the wooden floor again. Not that it would have hurt him, he had lost conciousness before he landed.

Shadow looked at Evan in panic, the Pokémon's eyes filled with fear. That was all Evan needed before he sprang into action. The thought of losing one of his closest friends was too overwhelming.

'SHADOW GO AND GET SAM' he screamed before testing Dex's pulse. It was still constant.

For now.

Shadow nodded before giving a strangled cry and frantically running out of the door. It ran into Aaron's room and straight to Sam who was sleeping on the bottom bunk.

He quickly pushed his paw against Sam's cheek causing Sam (who was an extremely light sleeper) to immediately wake up.

'Hey Shadow, how you doin-' he started before he noticed the look of fear in the Pokémon's eyes.

'Shadow what's wrong?' asked Sam, his voice full of concern.

Shadow quickly bit onto Sam's combats and dragged him to Evan's room.

'Shadow what's-OH SHIT' said Sam, his voice full of confusion as he noticed the scene in front of him.

Dex was on the floor unmoving.

Blood was all around him.

Evan was testing his pulse.

It took him a second before his mind became crystal clear. The frightened Pokémon walked past Evan and nudged the unmoving teen's body before looking fearfully back at Sam.

'SHADOW GO AND WAKE EVERYONE IN THIS DAMN LODGE UP RIGHT NOW BUT DO IT QUICK OR WE'LL LOSE HIM!' yelled Sam before tears began to form in his eyes as well. Shadow was quickly dreading the worst. His best friend for five years was coughing up blood and drifting in and out of conciousness. It began to cry as it ran into Sam's room.

No time for formalities.

Shadow used Screech as loud as he could. Immediately, Jacob, Adrian and Aaron sat upright in their beds with their hands covering their ears.

'Oww Shadow, go away, it's two in the freakin morning' said Adrian, rubbing his ears.

Aaron immediately picked up on the Pokémon's body language.

'Guys something's wrong with Dex' he said in horror.

They got out of their beds quickly before following the Pokémon who was running down the hall and into Evan's room.

Screams of horror could be heard as they looked at the sight before them, but Shadow was already sprinting down the hall to Misty's room.

He used Screech and everyone in Misty's room immediately awakened. Pikachu was about to use Thunderbolt before he noticed the fear in Shadow's eyes.

'Pika?'

'Umbre Umb Umbreon!' yelled Shadow, his voice cracking.

'Pikachu what's wrong?' asked Ash, rubbing his eyes.

Pikachu didn't even wait. He just looked at Ash before following Shadow down the hall with Iris, Ash, Misty and Cilan hot on their tails.

Screams could be heard as they too, witnessed the horrible sight in front of them.

'Guys, could you please keep it do-' started the drowsy Max, who had walked into their room. He looked at Dex before realising the concerned faces around him. Misty began screaming at him, snapping him out of his trance.

'MAX GO AND WAKE UP DREW RIGHT NOW'.

But Max was already on his way. He quickly ran into his room before yelling at the top of his lungs 'GUYS WAKE UP DEX IS IN TROUBLE!' he said, scampering down the hall again. That proved to be enough as seconds later, he was joined by May, Drew and Dawn in Evan's room with the rest of the group.

They all stared intently at Dex with growing fear of the worst while Evan and Sam checked his vitals.

Dex opened his eyes before coughing up more blood.

'Oh hey guys, where's the party-' he asked before slipping back into unconciousness.

Sam grit his teeth. In all his years of learning medical care on his travels, he never felt so helpless. He looked at the crimson wood surrounding Dex before an idea clicked in his head. He unbuttoned Dex's blue shirt and pulled the left side away.

The whole group gasped in shock.

Shadow looked at his trainer in disbelief.

A deep, dark purple patch covered the entirety of Dex's left lung and was rising and falling slowly as his breath came in shallow pants.

Sam lightly pressed his hand into Dex's chest before his face became grave.

The group looked at him expectantly before he answered.

'He's got internal bleeding' he said before gulping and rebuttoning the shirt.

They all gulped and the girls began to cry. Shadow looked at the young boy in disbelief. This couldn't be happening. What could cause-

Slowly, his mind recalled the earlier events of the day. The hyper beam, saving Lo and-...

And the Shadow Ball.

Shadow looked at his trainer, the boy he loved so much. His best friend. The human that was ready to die for him.

Shadow felt a hand on his ears. He looked around to see the crying face of Misty.

'Shadow it's not your fault' she said, tears still streaming down her face.

How could she say that? I caused this? If it weren't for me he would be walking around happily like he normally is! Shadow lowered his head as tears began to well up in his eyes and walked through the door as Dex's body began to cough again.

'Shadow buddy don't go...please?' came the strangled voice of Dex.

He turned around to see the young boy lying on the floor with his head raised. He was forcing a smile and had a hand outstretched.

After all the pain I've caused him, he still wants me to be with him? thought the Pokémon.

The group looked at him expectantly before Shadow ran back and lay in his friends arms.

'Your not going to die. Not on my watch.' thought Shadow as Dex drifted into unconciousness again.

Evan put his ear to Dex's chest before a faint smile came to his lips.

'Alright he's still alive. We're going to bring my friend back' said Evan determinedly.

'Whatever your gonna do, do it quick. The convulsions are going to start soon and he's going to injure himself' said Sam sullenly.

Shadow went to Adrian and tugged on his trouser leg until he crouched and looked at him straight in the eyes.

'Umbreon umbre um umbre um' said Shadow before Adrian nodded.

'Shadow that's genius but what about us?' he asked. Adrian had known their group since the very first day and had close connections with all the Pokémon in their group. So close that he could roughly understand what they were saying.

Shadow looked confused before Adrian whispered something in his ear. He immediately perked up at the chance to save his best friend.

'ALRIGHT ALL OF YOU STOP CRYING' said Adrian loudly, causing the entire group to tear themselves from the suffering teen and stare at him.

'Shadow and I have come up with an idea that just might work' he said before ushering the group into a circle and telling them the plan.

'It's risky but possible' said Misty wiping the tears from her face and becoming determined.

'I know but its all we've got' said Ash, listening intently.

'Why are you guys even talking about it? This is our best friend and if we've got a shot at saving him we're bloody well going to give it everything we've got!' said Aaron before fistbumping Sam.

The group turned back to the unconcious form of Dex before nervously thinking about the fatal result of their plan failing.


	20. Chapter 20: The Plan in action

After a couple of minutes of careful thinking, the group came to terms with the fact that there was no alternative.

Try.

Or lose their best friend.

Jacob, Sam, Aaron and Adrian looked nervously at each other before nodding. There was a boy's life riding on this, so failure wasn't an option. Shadow could sense this as he stood next to Adrian, nuzzling his leg.

Jacob slowly put a hand to his waist and unclipped a pokéball from his belt. He then pressed the button before whispering in the smallest of voices 'go Breloom'.

A green mushroom Pokémon took form in the middle of the room next to Dex's unconcious body. He took one look at the body before panicking and looking at Jacob.

'Breloom, your going to need to listen to every word Sam has to say alright?'said Jacob, his voice cracking.

The Pokémon's face became determined as he turned to look at Sam.

'Alright buddy you going to need to apply an even amount of Stun Spore when we say, that way he won't go into convulsions' said Sam clearly knowledgeable when it came to medical attention.

Breloom solemnly nodded and readied itself.

'Alright Adrian bring on part two' said Sam, turning to his friend.

Adrian put a hand into his still, muddy grey tracksuit and produced a pokéball. He pressed the button before saying 'go Waterbird'.

A Porygon Z appeared before levitating in mid-air. Adrian weakly smiled at it before pointing to Sam.

'Alright Waterbird we've got one shot at this. You're going to need to deploy a barrier that cuts all of this room in two. It should start right about here and it's going to have to be strong' continued Sam before pointing at the end of the bunk bed.

Waterbird nodded before Sam said 'good, let's begin'. He felt guilty for using Pokémon attacks against his best friend but it was the only option they had to stop him dying. He walked past Breloom and opened the window fully, before shuffling back.

This was it.

'Alright Waterbird go!' shouted Sam. All the Pokémon liked him and respected the teen so had no problem in doing what he wanted. Within seconds, a thin, transparent wall appeared between Dex and the group. On one side was everyone, while on the other was Dex and Breloom. Sam poked the wall to make sure it was strong enough before giving Waterbird a thumbs up.

'Your turn Breloom, wait until he's breathed out, so the blood doesn't stay in his throat' said Sam worriedly. This was the only chance they had.

Breloom nodded before waiting until Dex had breathed out. Then he immediately shook the mushroom on his head and began to dispense an orange powder. It landed evenly on Dex before his body became rigid and apart from his breathing, stopped moving.

'Good work Breloom, Aaron you're up' said Sam.

Aaron looked at Sam before nodding determinedly. He unclipped a pokéball from his belt and kissed it before pressing the button.

'Go Birdy' he shouted as a Staraptor took form.

The group looked at him in confusion and tried hard not to laugh.

'Not now guys, Dex is dying remember?' he calmly stated while waving his hands in the air. They immediately stopped giggling and looked back at the scene in front of them.

'Alright Birdy, when the Barrier goes down you give it all the Gust you have alright partner?' said Aaron.

Birdy smiled at his trainer before readying itself.

'Wait for it...NOW' yelled Adrian and Sam at the same time.

The Barrier immediately disappeared and Birdy began flapping its wings at full power, blowing all the Stun Spore out of the window. Breloom held onto the side of the bunk bed with all his might as the Gust threatened to take him out of the window as well.

'Birdy I think that'll just about do it, thanks friend' said Aaron before stroking the exhausted Staraptor's head. He recalled it before they all walked to Dex who was now paralysed.

'Good well not he won't go into convulsions, time for the next part' said Sam before looking at Jacob. They all recalled their Pokémon to rest before Jacob produced another pokéball.

'Go Chimecho' shouted Jacob.

An odd looking blue and red Pokémon with a happy smile appeared. It looked at Dex before looking worried.

'It's all down to you Chimecho, think you can give him the strongest Heal Pulse you got?' asked Jacob.

Chimecho smiled broadly before turning back to Dex.

It closed its eyes before concentrating for a few seconds. Then it opened its mouth and shot a sparkling pink ball at Dex.

Sam put his hand on Dex's chest before shaking his head.

Chimecho shot another Heal Pulse.

Then again.

Then again.

Then again.

After 10 minutes of constant Heal Pulses, Chimecho was exhausted and sweating. Sam put a hand on Dex's chest before smiling.

'It's worked!' he cried.

The entire group began to cry at those words. Their best friend was alive. Shadow ran upto Sam and pushed him onto the floor before nuzzling it's head into Sam's chest. Sam was all to happy to hug the black Pokémon back as tears fell from their eyes. Hugs of joy were shared before Misty broke the celebration.

'Uhh guys?'.

'Yeah?'.

'Dex is fine now right?' she asked.

'Yeah he is' said Sam happily, still hugging Shadow.

'Then why is he not moving?'.

The entire group looked at Dex in worry before the fog in their minds slowly cleared.

'Aww shit it's the Stun Spore' said Sam before standing up and putting his head in his hands.

'We're gonna need Salveyo weed like now' said Evan to the group.

'Where are we gonna get Salveyo weed at three in the freakin morning?' said Adrian. The entire group looked at him in confusion while trying to surpress their laughter.

'Ahh Adrian?' asked Aaron.

'Yeah?'.

He pointed out of the window at the lake next to them.

Adrian immediately understood and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

'Ahh hehe yeah I might have forgot about the Cerulean lake that's right next to us...'.

The entire group (apart from Dex) sweatdropped as they looked at him.

'Alright you guys stay here and the rest should go searching for Salveyo weed' said Aaron, taking charge.

'Brock, Evan, Sam you guys are the med experts, you stay here with Dex. Iris, Cilan you make sure everything's okay while we go and find the Salveyo weed' said Misty.

The three nodded as they turned their attention back to Dex.

'Hang in there buddy' said Aaron before his group exited the bedroom.

'You ready pikachu?' Ash asked the rodent on his shoulder.

'Pika pikachu!' said Pikachu before showing determination in his eyes.

'Oh no you don't, we're gonna need all the help we can get to make sure he doesn't go into shock' said Evan before they could leave. 'Misty, Aaron and Adrian you guys go while you guys stay here'.

Ash and the rest nodded before walking back to Evan.

'Let's go and get our friend back guys' said Adrian.

Misty, Aaron, Adrian all headed down the stairs and out of the door into the night.

They were greeted with the cool breeze and darkness. Since they were near the woods, the dense canopy of the trees only let little moonlight through, which didn't benefit their vision enough.

'Guys we can't see a thing' said Aaron as he struggled to make out his surroundings. Suddenly there was a gold glow behind him and they could see everything fine. The group turned around to see Shadow with his golden rings glowing.

'Thanks Shadow, now let's go get that Salveyo weed so we can get out friend back to normal' said Adrian with a flick of his hair.

Shadow was all too happy to oblige as he ran towards the lake, being followed by his group. After about two minutes of running, they reached the edge of Cerulean lake.

There were no trees so the entire lake was bathed in a mysterious glow from the moonlight. The surface of the water was still and like a mirror that reflected back whatever it saw.

'Now for the hard part' said Aaron grimly as he reached for his pokéball belt.

'Let's do it' said Misty.

'Go Dewott!' shouted Aaron.

'Come on guys' said Misty.

Adrian was about to release his water Pokémon before Misty stopped him.

'If we release to many they'll disturb the sleeping water Pokémon and plus, me and Aaron have got this' she said before high fiving Aaron.

Dewott, Staryu, Corsola and Politoed were all in the water waiting for their instructions.

'Okay you guys we need Salveyo weed for Dex so please try and find it' said Misty before the Pokémon nodded.

She heard a noise behind her and looked back. Aaron was five metres behind her and by the looks of it, he was getting a run-up.

'Aaron! What are you doing?' screamed Misty.

'Getting a run-up, what does it look like?' calmly said Aaron before marking a line in the ground with a stone.

He then took a deep breath before running as fast as he could to the lake. He was just about to jump when he felt a firm hand grip around his arm and pull him around.

'You can't do that you don't know what's in the lake!' said Misty in an alarmed tone.

Aaron gently took her hand off his arm and placed both of his hands on her shoulders before looking into her scared eyes.

'Misty, Dex is one of my best friends. Sam and Evan are up there taking care of him, it's up to us now. I don't care what's down there. I've got a chance at saving my friend and I'm going to take it' said Aaron in a determined tone.

Misty nervously nodded before Aaron let go of her and ran to his previous spot which had been marked out on the ground.

'Well if your going then you're gonna need this' said Misty before pulling out the breathing apparatus she always carried. It was a small red breathing device she used when performing.

'Alright thanks Misty' said Aaron, graciously taking the item and putting it into his mouth. He didn't mind about getting his clothes wet but he took off his black cap and placed it on the ground.

He got into a runner's starting position before mumbling 'alright Dex here goes nothing' and running towards lake. He then passed Misty and dived straight into the lake next to the waiting Pokémon. He stroked Dewott on the head, clicked the button on the breathing device and then disappeared into the unknown, murky water.

Misty watched as her new friend disappeared beneath the surface. She looked at her floating water Pokémon before saying 'take care of him guys and try to find the Salveyo weed'. They nodded before also disappearing beneath the surface. His determination towards his friends was inspiring and heart warming. She bent down and stroked Shadow, who was still glowing before realising she wasn't alone. She turned around to find Adrian on his phone, unfazed by the heroism Aaron had just displayed.

'Adrian why aren't you helping? Aaron's just gone and risked his li-'.

'Misty before you begin shouting, I'm looking at how we're meant to make tea out of that stuff' calmly said Adrian without looking up from the screen.

'Ohh hehe sorry' she said sheepishly. 'I just hope that Aaron's alright'...

Meanwhile, under the water, Aaron was furiously swimming downwards accompanied by Dewott, Politoed, Corsola and Staryu. The moonlight made it relatively easy to see underwater and soon the group found themselves scouring the Cerulean Lake lakebed.

Aaron felt the various rocks but they showed no sign of any weed. The Pokémon weren't having much better luck either. He paddled around before noticing an odd looking purple rock. Curious, he swam closer before the rock opened and revealed a pearl. It was Clamperl! He was just about to carry on looking before he noticed it was eating something.

A green weed like plant hung out of its mouth. It was the Salveyo weed. Aaron's heart skipped a beat as he swam closer to Clamperl's position and looked around. He noticed a dark cavern on the lakebed with bubbles coming from it. Dewott swam up to him before Aaron pointed at the cavern. Dewott nodded before ushering over the rest of the Pokémon. They swam over to him before quickly diving into the cavern.

Aaron watched them disappear. He waited for about a minute.

Then another.

Then another.

Then he began to get worried. What would he tell Misty? What would happen to Dex? At these thoughts, he began to panic underwater before regaining his composure.

As he was about to swim over to the cavern a small blue head appeared. It was Dewott! And in its mouth it was holding the Salveyo weed. Politoed and Staryu appeared, covered in strands of the weed. Corsola then appeared, looking extremely proud of itself.

It had an entire Salveyo weed bush stuck in its horns. Aaron silently laughed at the sigh underwater before beginning to swim upwards.


	21. Chapter 21: Adrian's tea

Aaron had been underwater for about ten minutes and Misty was beginning to get worried.

Has he drowned?

Has he been attacked?

Is he dea-

No, she couldn't let herself think like that, her friend was alive. He would find the Salveyo weed, Adrian would make tea out of it, everything would be fine and they could enjoy their reunion/holiday together. She nervously brushed away a lock of ginger hair from her forehead before thinking.

What if-

Just as a doubt was beginning to form in her head she saw bubbles coming from the center of the lake. Blonde hair appeared before a grinning face broke the surface of the water.

It was Aaron.

He was smiling as Politoed, Dewott, Staryu and Corsola appeared around him. They were all holding Salveyo weed and Misty began to laugh as she saw Corsola with a Salveyo bush stuck in its horns. They slowly swam over to Misty before she helped Aaron out of the water. He collapsed onto the ground the second he reached it, still soaking with water.

'We got it' he said after taking out his breathing device. He wiped the mouthpiece with his sleeve and gave it to Misty. Instead of taking the device, she hugged the soaking Aaron.

'Woahwoah I'm soaking, you'll get wet' said the shocked Aaron.

She didn't care. She had immediately assumed the worst when they didn't appear and this was one of the times she'd gladly be proven wrong.

Eventually she broke the hug and Aaron looked at Adrian.

'Hey Adrian buddy, you not gonna give me a hug too?' asked Aaron cheekily before making puppy eyes and pretending to look sad.

'Yeah I would...if our best friend wasn't currently paralysed and possibly dying. Remember, if the body stays paralysed for more than four hours, eventually the vitals slow down and then they're gone' said Adrian before putting his phone in his tracksuit pocket.

Misty and Aaron immediately looked at each other with worried expressions.

'We've got to make the tea NOW' said Aaron. Misty nodded and they looked at Adrian.

'You know how to make that yet bro?' asked Aaron.

'Not really but we'll have to pick it up as we go along now let's go!' shouted Adrian before ushering Misty and Aaron to follow him. They recalled their Pokémon(who were still holding the Salveyo weed) and ran as fast as they could back to the cabin with Shadow leading the way, eager to get back.

After about two minutes of running, they arrived at the cabin but they had no time to rest. Panting furiously, Adrian quickly pulled out his phone again and scoured the recipe while Misty and Aaron released their Pokémon. Without stopping, they picked the Salveyo weed( and bush) from their Pokémon, thanked them and recalled them.

They immediately ran into the sparkling, futuristic kitchen and began looking for pans. Adrian was still looking at the recipe while Aaron was throwing kitchen utensils in every direction, only concerned about the one they needed.

Drawn by the noise, Ash, Pikachu, Sam, Brock and Cilan appeared at the stairs.

'You guys are back! Did you find it?' asked Brock.

Misty triumphantly held the Salveyo bush in the air before returning to the search for the pan. She began looking through the far most cabinet and found an unused blue one.

'I got it!' shouted Misty. The group was relieved and smiled broadly. Ash simply walked up to Misty and hugged her tightly.

'I was worried Mist' he said, still hugging her.

'Oh please as if I'd hurt myself. You're the one that always seems to get hurt everytime we meet a legendary Pokémon' she said before he laughed. Ash planted a soft kiss on her cheek before they blushed and broke the hug, now focusing on the task on hand.

'Aaron please tell me you didn't' said Sam with a smile on his face.

'Hell yeah, I took a midnight swim' he laughed before sticking his fist in the air.

'How did I know you'd be doing that?' said Sam while grinning.

The group laughed before Aaron turned to Adrian.

'You're up Adrian' he said solemnly before Adrian nodded.

'Let's do this' he said before springing into action. Misty grabbed the pan and placed it onto the cooker.

'Alright Aaron we're gonna need about 500ml of water Bro' said Adrian quickly. Aaron dashed to the tap and began filling up the kettle with water.

'Ash can you begin chopping up that Salveyo weed into small parts?'.

'You got it' said Ash before grabbing a large knife and beginning to chop the weed. Pikachu hopped off his shoulder before grabbing a small plastic knife. He picked up a single stem of weed and began to cut. The little rodent applied all the strength he had. Eventually, the knife broke and the Salveyo weed was left intact. Annoyed, Pikachu began to shock it, his little red cheeks sparking in frustration.

Ash laughed at this sight before continuing his chopping. 'That's not gonna do anything pal' grinned Ash, causing Pikachu to stop.

'If you wanna help, I'd appreciate it if you would wash this buddy' said Ash before pushing over the already chopped weed.

Pikachu smiled broadly before picking up the weed in his small hands and beginning to wash it in the sink.

'Okay Brock can you please squeeze a lemon and Cilan in Sam's bag in the right pocket there's a jar of fresh Beedrill honey' said Adrian.

Brock and Cilan nodded before each going to do their job. They were all determined to make the cure since it was the one thing that could save Dex.

By now, Ash and Pikachu had finished chopping/ washing the weed and were standing there looking extremely proud of themselves.

'Well done guys that's awesome' said Adrian, 'Sam grab that pestle and mortar and start crushing it up'.

Sam immediately ran to the utensil cupboard and pulled out the two items. He then ran over to Ash before they both began to shovel the chopped and washed weed into the mortar. Then, Sam began to furiously crush the weed with the pestle until it was a fine powdery like substance.

'Excellent Sam, now we need to boil the water and the weed together' said Adrian.

Sam carefully poured the crushed Salveyo weed into the pan Misty had found while Aaron poured in the boiling water.

Cilan appeared in the kitchen, each carrying a jar of honey.

'Here you go Adrian' he said, handing him the honey.

Adrian thanked him before slowly pouring in a few drops into the pan.

'Brock we're gonna need that lemon right about now' said Adrian, looking at Brock nervously.

Brock finished off squeezing the lemon and handed the juice to Adrian.

'Thanks Brock' he said before pouring in a few drops of the lemon juice as well.

The group waited anxiously in silence for a few minutes as the tea brewed, each wondering if it would work or if Dex's fate was sealed.

Eventually, the silence was broken as Adrian turned around to them and solemnly spoke two words.

'It's done'.

The group looked at him before nodding. He then turned around and ran up the stairs. They heard clattering before he appeared at the stairs holding an odd item.

It was a purple transparent glass with a smiling Lotad on the side.

'We were in the Cerulean mall and it was love at first sight so Dex had to go and buy it' said Adrian smiling.

Sam then carefully poured out the tea into the glass before Adrian pulled out a small multicoloured umbrella and placed it inside the glass.

'Voila' he said before they all faintly smiled. Adrian then began to walk slowly up the stairs while being followed by the rest of the nervous group. They walked to the door at the end of the corridoor to be greeted by a familiar sight.

Dex was still on the floor and unmoving but the blood around him had gone dry. Evan was testing his pulse while Shadow was nuzzling his hand sadly. The rest of the group turned around to see Adrian holding the tea in the tropical glass.

He walked past them and kneeled next to Dex before putting the glass next to Shadow's face.

'You see this Shadow? This will make him better' said Adrian although he didn't sound to sure. Maybe it was already to late.

Shadow nodded and licked Adrian's face before he turned to Dex.

'Alright bro here goes nothing' he said as he angled the glass to touch Dex's mouth. He then tilted the glass and slowly began to pour the tea into his mouth. After a couple of minutes, the tea was finished and Adrian stepped back while the group looked on, waiting.

'W-w-why isn't it working?' asked Evan worriedly.

'Did we make it right?' asked Aaron, his voice cracking.

'Did we even get the right weed?' said Misty, beginning to cry.

'Dex say something' said Sam gravely.

There was no reply.

They were too late.

They looked away from the body, unable to hold eye conact any longer. The group's eyes began to well up as all their efforts to save their friend failed. The weed, the Stun Spore and the Heal Pulse had not worked.

Adrian sat there in shock, still holding the glass while unable to move.

A minute passed.

Nothing.

Shadow's and Pikachu's ears began to twitch as they heard a small groan. They wiped their tears and listened intently.

It came again.

Nothing could have prepared them for what came next.

'Adrian what's with the umbrella?' asked a familiar laughing voice.

They looked in Dex's direction in surprise, only to find him sitting up and rubbing the back of his neck. They couldn't move or speak as Dex looked at them intently.

'Aaron have you been swimming again?' he asked with a smirk.

They all laughed before wiping away their tears and running to hug him.

'You're back!' cried Aaron as they embraced their friend.

'Yeah well duh' laughed Dex.

They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity. A teenage boy getting embraced and crushed from all sides by his friends.

Eventually they parted and Dex stretched his arms.

'I honestly can't thank you guys enough for that Salve-'.

He was cut off as Shadow ran into him and knocked him to the floor, licking his face.

Dex laughed as he hugged his crying friend.

'Aww it's so good to see you pal' he cried before hugging the black Pokémon tighter.

'Yeah well you've wasted enough time with me, you guys should get some sleep it's like three in the morning' said Dex.


	22. Chapter 22: Morning!

Sorry about the delay! Normally when we write we're focused...but I got Pokémon platinum and IT'S AWESOME. I've(Dex) just been playing that constantly instead of writing, the rest of the squad's annoyed at me so SORRY GUYS! Big thank you goes to Evan AAML& Prettygirl17 as always! But a new welcome thank you goes to XxcherriesandChocolatexX! She's awesome and Australian:D and has been talking to me constantly about tons of stuff so yeah thanks again cherry;)! And now onto the chapter -.-

It was a beautiful new day.

The sun was shining brightly, bathing everything in a bright, harmonious glow. The wind was blowing ever so faintly and the lake was calm and tranquil. It looked like a beautiful painting, unmoving and crystal clear.

After the incidents in the night, the group had reluctantly gone back to sleep due to Dex's insistence that they get the rest and that he would be fine. He then slept on the floor next to Shadow, who was snuggled up next to him. Evan slept on the bunkbed with one eye open, just in case something else happened or if Dex's injury caused him pain.

He seemed to have made it through the night without any clues that he might still be injured and so Evan's mind was put at ease.

Now it was ten o'clock in the morning and the group was just beginning to get up, still tired from the night. Yawns and stretches were heard from each of the rooms as the exhausted teens decided it was time to get up.

'Wake up sleeping beauty' said Evan while pushing Dex's shoulder.

Dex groaned quietly before sitting up and stretching. He patted Shadow on the head and the black Pokémon slowly got up as well.

'Thanks mom' he laughed before Evan punched him playfully on the shoulder.

'Alright let's go and wake up the rest, Brock's making breakfast and he needs my help' stated Evan as Dex drowsily nodded.

The two slowly got up and walked out of the room with Shadow at their feet. Dex walked into Sam's room while Evan walked into Ash's.

Dex looked at his sleeping friends before nudging Sam.

'Sam bro let's go' he said as Sam's eyes immediately flickered open.

'How you feeling?' he asked thoughtfully.

Dex shrugged. 'Not too bad I guess'.

'Good, you scared the living crap out of me' said Sam.

'Yeah right, It'll take more then that to take me down' he said before standing proudly with his hands on his hips doing his signature hero pose.

'Yeah yeah 'hero' now shut up and wake Aaron up'.

Dex laughed before walking over to Aaron's bunkbed. He climbed the ladder and looked as Aaron's peaceful form slowly snored.

Just as he was about to wake him up, Evan appeared in the doorway holding a pokéball.

'Yeah Dex umm, I wake you guys up like every morning. You're gonna need this' said Evan before throwing the red-and-white ball to Dex, who caught it.

'Okkkayyy?' he replied with a confused look.

Evan smiled before disappearing back to Ash's room.

Sam and Dex looked at each other before shrugging.

Dex turned back to Aaron and nudged him.

'Aaron'.

No answer.

He nudged him harder this time.

'Aaron'.

No answer.

After a minute of nudging and Sam's giggles, Dex gave in.

'Alright go pokéball' he said before releasing the Pokémon.

A bright, white light appeared before it formed a Pikachu.

It shook its fur before smiling and immediately jumping into Sam's arms and hugging him. Sam hugged the little yellow Pokémon back.

'How you feeling Pikachu?' he asked.

'Pika!'(Awesome) it cried before Sam smiled.

'Good to hear'.

The Pikachu then jumped into Dex's arms and hugged him tightly as well. It had been a vigorous training session yesterday and it was good to see their Pokémon smiling and as energetic as ever.

'Alright buddy we're gonna need a Thunderbolt...but just a small one' said Dex before the little Pokémon nodded and put its paws to its bright red cheeks.

'Pikachu!' it cried as it sent small sparks towards Aaron's sleeping form.

He immediately jumped up in his bed screaming.

'AHHHH DAMMIT EVAN I'M GONNA KILL YOU-' he started before looking around the room and realising Evan wasn't there. He looked at the group's amused faces before smiling sheepishly.

'Ahh hey...guys'.

They laughed before all waving to Aaron. He looked at the bed to find the electric rodent smiling happily at him. It hopped happily into his arms.

'PIKACHU!' he cried before embracing the Pokémon tightly.

'Last time I saw you, you were getting Take downed by Dex's Beldum, how you feeling now?' asked Aaron, shuffling in his blankets.

Pikachu gave him a happy smile before Aaron gently put him down into Sam's arms and climbed down the ladder.

'Before you even think about pulling that trick on me, I'm awake' said Adrian with a smile on the opposite bed. He was propped up in his bed on one arm and looking happily at the group.

'Morning buddy' they murmured as he climbed down the ladder as well to join them.

Pikachu hopped happily into Adrian's arms. After getting Take Downed by a Beldum, he had been severely injured and was now overjoyed to meet everyone after a long recovery.

'Good to see you back Pikachu' said Adrian before recalling it and turning back to the group.

'Alright Dex you take the longest in the shower(I do not!) and don't even try to deny it' said Sam. The rest of the group snickered.

'Adrian, Jacob there are two showers in this room so you guys go first but be quick. Then me and Aaron will go which leaves Dex till last' said Sam with a smirk.

The next half an hour was extremely busy. All the teens had been woken up and were either showering, ironing clothes or getting ready as Brock and Evan were preparing breakfast. Delicious smells wafted up the stairs and only motivated them to do their jobs even faster.

The smells were so good that Dex came out in record time to be greeted by the rest of the group's shocked faces.

'Yeah that's right, I can be quick' he said with a wink before turning towards the mirror and making his hair.

Sam adjusted his combats before slipping his signature aviators onto the back of his collar while Aaron put on his black cap.

'Dex hurry up' said Sam before turning to Adrian who was attempting to iron a checkered shirt. He was still wearing his muddy tracksuit from training with his Espeon.

'You need a hand with that?' asked Sam while smiling.

'No I'm fine' lied Adrian as he roughly forced the iron onto the shirt.

Sam calmly walked over and looked at him.

'If you were fine, the iron would be on bro' he laughed,

Adrian turned red before sheepishly handing the iron over to Sam.

'Thanks Sam'.

'Don't worry about it' he said as he turned it on and began to glide over the shirt.

Just as he finished, Max appeared at the door. It had apparently not been his turn in the shower yet and his hair was a mess. The dark blue/black hair was tangled and in every direction.

'Guys you should try and hurry up, Evan's cooking something amazing by the smells of it'.

'Tell me about it, it's torture just waiting up here' grumbled Jacob as he waited for Dex to make his hair. The six had made an agreement some time ago that they wouldn't leave until every one of them was fully ready to go and Dex was slowing the entire group down. They immediately shot him angry glances that he saw in the mirror.

'Alright alright I'm coming' he said as he put the last strand of dark blue hair in place.

'Done'.

The group all smiled and happily walked out of the room with Max. They followed their noses down the stairs and were greeted with a welcome sight.

'Morning guys' said Misty happily. Everyone else was sitting round an empty, wooden table waiting for Evan and Brock to finish with the cooking.

'Good morning' said the new arrivals as they took their place round the table.

'Where's Adrian?' asked Iris, playing with her purple hair.

'Don't even ask. He's changing and will take ages-' started Aaron.

'Good morning guys' said a voice from the stairs. The group looked confused as they looked towards the stairs and noticed Adrian walking down them.

'That was quick' laughed Cilan.

'Yeah well I had the right motivation' he said while pointing to the kitchen, 'and plus I'm so happy to wear my normal clothes again'. He walked to the table before taking Aaron's black cap and placing it on his own head.

Aaron grumbled something that sounded like 'every time' as Adrian sat in between Sam and Max.

'Adrian I like your new look' remarked May as she looked at him.

He wore dark blus skinny jeans with a white long sleeved T-shirt underneath a formal short sleeved checkered shirt. In one hand he wore an array of multicoloured bracelets while in the other he wore a formal watch. His long black-and-red hair hung behind him as he smiled.

'Aww thank you May, these are my normal clothes' he said.

'Yeah well I'm pretty sure that black cap isn't yours' muttered Aaron, clearly annoyed with this daily affair. Adrian ignored him and adjusted the cap.

'So Dex how are you feeling?' asked Iris as she looked at him in worry.

'Yeah well I feel fine, Shadow's upstairs resting up and my chest's bruise has gone' he replied with a smile.

'Phew, we thought you were a goner' said Cilan.

'Yeah well if this breakfast ever arrives I'll be a lot better' said Dex with a smile.

Sam rolled his eyes before drumming his fingers on the table.

'Good things come to those who wait!' said a voice. The group looked around before noticing Evan standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

'EVAN I'M HUNGRY' screamed Aaron before banging his fists on the table.

Evan and the rest of the group laughed as he walked over to Adrian and took off his black cap.

'I hope my humble cooking impresses our hosts and matches Brock's standards' said Evan as he placed the cap onto the head of the now-happy Aaron.

'Believe me guys, you're in for a treat' said Sam before high-fiving Evan.

A ping went off in the kitchen before Evan immediately turned around and began walking. 'That's me, Brock's gonna need a hand so give us about five minutes' he said.

Dex opened his mouth but was interrupted before he could say a single word.

'Before you say anything Dex I'm absolutely POSITIVE that you won't die of hunger in the next five minutes' laughed Evan before disappearing into the kitchen.

Dex grumbled something before looking downwards.

Pikachu and Togepi played happily on the table as the teens laughed around them.

'So Dawn what do you think of Max's hair?' said Max mischeviously while tousling Max's hair. 'Real cute right?'.

Dawn blushed before quickly looking in the opposite direction.

'May!' shouted Max in protest.

'Aww Maxy you look adorable' laughed May.

'Yeah well I bet Drew's got something to say about how cute you-'.

'Hehe now that's enough out of you Max' said Drew nervously before quickly placing a hand over Max's mouth. May and Drew were blushing furiously as Max smirked.

'Alright lovebirds breakfast is served!' said a cheerful voice at the door.


	23. Chapter 23: The Debate

The voice at the door was none other then Brock's. He smiled as he walked towards the group holding multiple plates filled with many different items. Ash and Pikachu looked on in awe as Evan appeared behind him holding many different plates as well.

The waiting group looked like a hungry pack of hyenas as the food was set down on the table.

Loaded chocolate muffins, crispy bacon, juicy sausages, golden waffles, fresh orange juice, crunchy cereal and many other delectable treats littered the table.

'Huzzah! a breakfast for kings' joked Evan as he set down a plate of waffles.

'Damn, Evan and Brock make the best breakfast team ever!' shouted Ash before hungrily reaching for the muffin plate.

'Now Ash eat decent-' started Misty before she was interrupted by Ash noisily stuffing his face with a chocolate muffin.

'Not now Mist we need food!' he said before grabbing a handful of poffins and giving them to the overjoyed Pikachu.

Pikachu's face lit up as he took a large bite out of a poffin. Misty rolled her eyes before smiling and taking a few waffles and pouring maple syrup on them.

Adrian looked at Pikachu chewing happily before a faint smile came to his lips.

'Gee Pikachu I bet you wish you had someone to join your breakfast session' said Adrian.

Pikachu looked at him in confusion before pointing a small yellow paw thoughtfully at Togepi who was sitting opposite him.

'Maybe someone you can...relate a bit more with' said Adrian before pulling out a pokéball. Evan immediately noticed the lightning sticker on it and was about to interject before catching onto Adrian's plan. He smiled and gave Adrian a wink from across the table before pouring himself some fresh orange juice and watching the scene before him unfold.

'Go pokéball' said Adrian.

Immediately a brilliant white flash of light came out of the ball before forming a yellow figure in between the pancake and the waffle plates.

Pikachu froze.

He dropped the poffin he was eating and stared on in wonder.

In front of him was the most brilliant creature to ever walk the Earth. Her tail was curvy, her cheeks were rosy red and she was the most perfect yellow he had ever seen.

It was another Pikachu.

Adrian laughed before giving the grinning Evan the now-empty pokéball.

Pikachu was frozen solid as he gazed on at the sheer beauty. The other Pikachu turned a light shade of red as she gazed back at him.

'Pikachuuuuuuuuu' he said.

'Pika pi' said the other Pikachu.

Pikachu couldn't move as he was transfixed on the sight before him.

'You alright there buddy?' snickered Ash.

Pikachu didn't reply which caused the group to snicker between mouthfuls. Misty watched the adorable moment in front of her before sparking an idea.

'Here' said Misty. She grabbed a small bowl before filling it with poffins and a squirt of ketchup. She placed it in between Pikachu's small paws and gave him a wink.

He immediately understood and the two small rodents scampered off.

'He'll be back soon, I only gave him a small bit of ketchup' said Misty with a wink.

'Aww they're so cute!' remarked May with lovehearts in her eyes.

'Reminds me of Ash and Misty' laughed Aaron.

They both immediately turned red and looked in opposite directions causing the rest of the group to giggle.

'Alright guys onto the matter at hand' said Brock in a serious tone.

The group looked at each other in worry before looking at Brock. His serious tone had alarmed them and even Ash and Misty seemed worried.

'What's wrong Brock?' asked Max anxiously.

'This is a reunion so we have to make it fun! Any ideas?' said Brock with a smile.

The entire group exhaled, apparently relieved by his change of heart.

'Well first we need to go shopping!' said May with a grin. All the girls squealed and jumped up in joy as the boys exchanged grim looks.

'No, we really don't' said Max halfheartedly.

'Max come on you might as well let them, they can have their fun' said Cilan, placing a hand on the young boy's shoulder.

The girl's squealed in delight once more before suddenly becoming distraight and facing towards the floor.

'What's wrong?' asked Evan in worry. If something stopped the girls from being excited about shopping then it had to be something pretty serious.

'Well...we need someone to come with us, you know because of all the robberies happening recently' said Misty while facing the floor.

'You'll never catch me near a shopping mall' said Ash, sticking his nose in the air. Pikachu sighed before looking back at Misty.

'Alright Misty we'll make a deal' said Brock whilst walking in between them.

'And what's the deal?' asked Misty.

'We'll take you shopping if...'.

There was pindrop silence as the group anxiously waited for Brock to finish his sentence.

'You have a tournament with us' finished Brock.

Ash immediately sprung into action.

'Yeah! I can't wait for a tournament' he said enthusiastically while jumping up and down.

Misty smiled as she saw Ash's eagerness towards battling. She turned around to May, Dawn and Iris who all nodded. She had wanted to battle Ash again ever since the Whirl Cup. She took up her battling pose and looked at him straight in the eyes.

'Alright then Ketchum you're on!' she said with a determined look.

The two faced each other with determination and enthusiasm before May stepped in between them.

'Alright then we'll have a tournament but on two conditions'.

'And those conditions are?' asked Evan.

'First, we get to take one of you shopping with us and they can't complain even once'.

The boys looked at each other, shrugged and decided that it was fair.

'I sure feel sorry for that unlucky guy' smirked Sam.

They looked back at May as all eyes in the room were now fixed on her.

'And second...Drew has to battle' finished May.

Drew immediately choked on his fruit salad(he likes to watch his figure for contests).

'Oh no Maple, I'm a contester not battler' said Drew while moving his chair back. It creaked against the floor as he slowly dragged it backwards.

'Please Drew it'll be fun' she said while inching her chair forward.

'Nope, not a chance' he said, flicking a strand of green hair away from his face. Deep down Drew wanted to battle but he knew only contests.

'I can't battle May...what if I beat her?' he thought.

May looked at him with puppy eyes and dropped to her knees.

Drew's heart surged. He could never refuse puppy eyes from anyone... especially May.

'Please Drew' she pleaded.

Drew was just about to give in and say yes before Max interrupted.

'Come on Drew we all knew those roses aren't for nothing'.

Drew blushed fiercely before turning back to the girl in front of him.

'Alright then I'll do it' he said.

May always got her way whatever happened. She jumped up and hugged him tightly causing them both to blush.

'Thank you' she said.

'Don't worry about it' said Drew before they broke the hug. Still blushing wildly, they turned back to the table to find the entire group giggling.

'Drew there's a muffin here...but I guess you guys are gonna share it aren't you?' said Ash slyly. He had his cap down over his head to cover his face but Drew could still make out his smile.

'Aww Evan you should have made spaghetti' said Aaron thoughtfully. The rest of the group laughed as Drew and May blushed again.

'Ohhh boy...let's just get this tournament over with' sighed Drew before returning to the breakfast table.


	24. Chapter 24: It begins

Alright I recognise that the last chapter was baaaadddd(a fact made VERY clear by Sam, thanks for that Sam(!)) But there's a reason for that. Evan said that a common scenario with writers is that they get writer's block. Well, this happened with me and when you try writing when you've got it...you end up with chapters as bad as the last one. I'm honestly really sorry but I'll try to make the next couple of chapters top quality as Sam, Jake, Aaron and George have been OVERLOADING with ideas! There'll be some new characters appearing soon. As always, big thank you to Evan AAML, Prettygirl17! And a special thank you to XxCherriesandchocolatexX for keeping me motivated enough to write this;)

Breakfast went by extremely quickly.

The teens all stuffed themselves fully while contemplating strategies they would use within the tournament. Move types, effects and type advantages were flying around the room as they formulated their approach to their opponent. No-one knew who they would be battling which caused the tension and determination to increase tenfold.

'Guys umm any idea how we're gonna decide who's battling who?' asked May before gulping down the remains of her apple juice.

Adrian's eyes flashed with glee before looking at Aaron's black cap.

Aaron realised a second too late about Adrian's plan. He attempted to stop him from stealing his hat again but his attempt was proven futile as Adrian triumphantly held the black cap in the air. Aaron grumbled as the teens looked up from their plates at the cap.

'Misty do you have any paper?' asked Adrian before waving the cap in the air.

Misty nodded before standing up, running to a cabinet in the living room and producing a blue pen and a few sheets of paper.

She then brought them back and began to write down all the names of the group. She handed then to Evan who began to rip them up into small pieces.

'You ready to get beaten Mist?' asked Ash with a smile.

'In your dreams Ketchum' she replied. Her eyes blazed the same colour as her hair as she looked at him. Evan ripped up the paper into small pieces before looking up after a couple of seconds.

'Done' said Evan.

All of the group watched him as he turned around and placed the pieces into Aaron's hat. The suspense in the air was almost tangible as everyone wondered in awe who would be picked first.

'Alright Misty you pick first' said Ash in anticipation.

'Alright Ketchum' she said before walking up to Adrian and looking inside the black hat. The various pieces were torn up and folded in half so that the picker could not see the names.

Misty bit her lip before plunging her hand into the soft cloth of Aaron's hat. Everyone watched in awe as she moved her hand around the hat before her muscles tightened and she gripped a piece. She then looked at the group as she slowly brought her hand out of the hat.

Many thoughts were flying around her head as she wondered who's name she was holding. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she opened the piece of paper.

She took a deep breath before casting her gaze down to the paper and smiling.

'Iris' she shouted triumphantly.

Iris smiled as she received pats on the back and various congratulations for being the first one to be picked out. In all her life she had never refused a battle and she never intended to begin. They all then directed their attention back to Misty who nodded and plunged her hand into the hat again.

Iris prayed in her head that it wouldn't be Cilan as she couldn't bear to see his face if she beat him. On the other hand, she didn't know what she would do if he beat her. After all, gym leaders were extremely strong trainers.

Misty pulled her hand out of the hat again before opening it.

'Adrian'.

Adrian looked at Misty in shock before looking to Iris. He almost dropped the cap but regained control just in time. He calmly returned back to normal and smiled happily before brushing a strand of hair from his face.

'Alright Iris good luck' he said. Adrian was always a tough competitor but never shirked when it came to manners or etiquette.

'Gee thanks Adrian and good luck to you too' said Iris.

An awkward silence enveloped the room as the teens looked at Adrian and Iris.

'Well get a move on!' said Max while pushing Iris. He was apparently annoyed by the anticipation of Iris battling a pokémon biologist. He also wanted to see how the battle would turn out and so was insistent on getting them on the battling field.

'Alright Max quit pushing me Max, I'm not Dawn' laughed Iris. Max immediately stopped pushing her and turned a deep shade of red. He looked over to Dawn and saw her blushing too.

'Hehe well...erm...the weather's nice outside... let's umm... go' he said, nervously playing with his hair.

'Alright Max chill we're going' said Adrian with a smile. He placed a hand gently on the young boy's shoulder and the group headed towards the door. The second they stepped outside, they all gasped.

The view was breathtaking; a picturesque scene that could only have come from a book. The lake was shimmering a bright shade of blue, matching Misty's eyes. The sun was shining and the weather was perfect.

For battling that is.

Iris had various thoughts running through her head as the group almost skipped to the battlefield. 'I'm against a Pokémon biologist' she thought nervously.

Biologists were renowned throughout Kanto as being the experts when it came to types and effects. If it were up to her, Adrian would be the last person apart from Evan she would be battling.

'He probably knows more about my Pokémon than I do' she thought worriedly. Secondly, what if she lost? Not only would it be a serious blow to her confidence, Cilan would be watching. If he saw her lose, would he think of her as weak? The one guy she liked more than anything would pity her if she lost against Adrian. She couldn't allow that to happen. She had to beat him.

Thirdly, she thought 'how did he do his hair?' It was typical of Iris to become sidetracked but when against a Pokémon biologist with red and black hair, she cut herself some slack. She shook her head and cleared her thoughts before smiling. 'It's only a bit of fun, nothing serious' she reminded herself. But deep down the knew this was untrue as Cilan was watching.

She walked onto the grassy battlefield and calmed herself. 'It'll be fine' she said while uneasily making her way to edge of the battlefield. Iris turned around to take in the sight in front of her. She stood on the opposite side to Adrian and there was about fifteen metres of battlefield in between them. The rest of the group stood on the side and watched while cheering happily.

'Well it's now or never Iris' said Adrian, throwing and catching a pokéball.

'Yeah well let's do it now Adrian' smirked Iris. She reached for her belt before clasping a pokéball. The two nodded to each other before throwing the balls into the air.

'GO EXCADRILL/TORRENT' they both screamed. There were two bright flashes or light before two Pokémon materialised; an Excadrill and an Azumarill. Iris's Excadrill turned around and waved to her as she smiled back.

'Alright Excadrill we've got this'.

On the other side of the field, Adrian watched his Azumarill dance on the spot.

'Haha you've healed well Torrent' he smiled. Azumarill waved happily before turning back to the Excadrill and getting focused.

'Alright this will be a two on two Pokémon battle between Iris and Adrian! Any team changes may be made now using the insta before battle!' said Sam, adjusting his shades.

'Insta?' Iris said with a puzzled look.

'I'll tell you after' said Aaron from the sidelines.

'Begin!' shouted Sam.

'Alright Excadrill let's show them what we've got, DRILL RUN' screamed Iris.

Excadrill immediately sprung into action and began to charge towards the waiting Azumarill.

Adrian seemed unfazed as he watched the intimidating mole Pokémon run towards his friend.

'Alright buddy how's about we give it a little Protect?' He said coolly.

Azumarill nodded with a smile. Over the years they had spent together, it had learnt to trust its trainer and his friends. All of them knew what they were doing apart from the one with blue hair. But they were all good people and it would obey them no matter what.

Torrent immediately turned around and a green aura appeared around it.

Excadrill ran straight into it but instead of damaging Azumarill, it went flying back and landed hard on the ground.

Iris gasped. That was the most powerful Protect attack she had ever seen. Not only did it protect Torrent, it caused damage to Excadrill as well. She would have to be extremely careful if she wanted to win.

Adrian smiled happily. 'That was awesome Torrent, let's keep it up!'.

Azumarill danced happily as Iris decided her next move and wiped away a bead of sweat with the back of her hand.

'Excadrill let's give 'em another one!' She shouted.

Excadrill got up before stumbling slightly. He was injured on the very first move. His claws glistened in the sun as he charged for the Azumarill again.

'Torrent I think its a bit hot today, how about we cool them down?' smiled Adrian.

'Azu!'.

Torrent took in as much air as it could before opening its mouth and letting out a powerful Hydro Pump attack. It hit the charging Excadrill head on.

Excadrill was immediately stopped in its tracks. The sheer force of the water was enough to drive him back not to mention it was a super-effective move as well. Iris knew it didn't have a chance to recover from a direct hit like that and just watched as Excadrill faltered and fell to the floor.

'Excadrill is unable to battle! Adrian wins the first round!' shouted Sam.

Iris ran a hand through her hair as she recalled the knocked out Pokémon. 'Wow I never saw that coming...I'm gonna have to pick carefully' she mumbled to herself. The group stared at her, anxiously awaiting her next move.

'Show him what you got Iris!' shouted Cilan.

She blushed before grabbing a pokéball. Cilan was rooting for her and she wouldn't have it any other way. The only chance she had was to pick her strongest Pokémon and end this.

'Go Dragonite!' she shouted before throwing a pokéball in the air. There was a flash of light before an orange, happy looking dragon appeared. It roared before immediately glaring at its opposition.

Torrent became uneasy and shifted on the spot as the dragon stared at it.

'Don't worry Torrent, remember our type advantage' smiled Adrian.

'Type advantage? What are you talking about, Azumarill's a water type!' screamed Iris. She was extremely puzzled and Adrian just smiled.

'Ash check your pokédex for me please' said Adrian before flicking his hair. Ash immediately nodded and began rooting around in his pockets for his pokédex. He too was confused over what the biologist was saying.

'It's in here somewhere...' he said, still rummaging around.

'Dragonite I've had enough of this, use Thunder Punch!' yelled Iris.

The orange dragon's left fist immediately began to glow and spark. It then flapped its wings and began to accelerate towards Torrent at an alarming speed.

'Torrent let's play rough shall we?' said Adrian with a flick of his hair.

Torrent waited as the Dragonite flew towards it with its fist raised.

'Play rough? What sort of move's that, I've never even heard of it? thought Iris.

When Dragonite was about an inch away, Torrent spun its body to gather momentum and immediately smacked a fist into Dragonite's chest, throwing the Thunder Punch off course and into the ground. It had the wind knocked out of it and panted for a few brief moments.

'Dragonite try again!'.

Dragonite recovered before raising its fist again. Just when it was about to hit, a robotic voice began to speak.

'Azumarill, the aqua rabbit Pokémon. Previously believed to be a water type, it has been recently discovered that it is a water_**and**_ fairy type making it super-effective against Dragon type Pokémon'.

Iris looked at the teens and noticed them all staring at Ash, who was holding his pokédex with an open mouth. The realisation hit her hard as she looked back at Dragonite.

'Oh no' was all she could say before the Azumarill began launching punches at lightning speed, its paws turning into blurs. However this time, Dragonite landed its Thunder Punch right on Azumarill's snout. The effect was devastating.

They both took a step back and began panting heavily. The two Pokémon just stood there, staring at each other and panting, neither backing down. They had both had received super-effective moves; Dragonite with Play Rough and Torrent with Thunder Punch.

They stayed like that for a few seconds until Torrent gave a cry of pain and collapsed on the ground.

'Azumarill is unable to battle, Iris wins the round!' shouted Sam as Adrian recalled the blue mouse.

Dragonite let out a sigh of relief before landing onto the ground.

'Yeah we did it Dragonite!' exclaimed Iris, throwing her arms in the air.

'Nicely done Iris' said Adrian from the other side of the battlefield.

'Thanks Adrian!' she yelled back.

'Wow that was really something Iris' said Cilan from the sidelines. Iris blushed fiercely as she smiled at him. He was always so caring and so supportive that she couldn't help but fall for him.

The perfect moment was cut short when they heard 'go Waterbird!'.

Iris looked at the field to see a familiar looking Porygon_Z materialising. It shone in the sunlight and stared at Dragonite with a blank expression.

'Waterbird use Discharge!' yelled Adrian.

Immediately, sparks began to bounce off the Porygon_Z's body and towards Dragonite at incomprehensible speeds.

'Dragonite try and dodge it then use Ice Beam!' said Iris. It was essential that Dragonite didn't get injured so early on in the battle as it was still in pain from Play Rough.

Dragonite flew as fast as it could around the Porygon_Z. It narrowly avoided most of the sparks before opening its mouth and firing a beam of ice directly towards the pink Pokémon.

'Waterbird let's dodge it' said Adrian urgently.

Porygon_Z quickly disappeared from the path of the Ice Beam before appearing next to it. The beam carried on its trajectory before harmlessly freezing the ground it hit.

For a split second, Dragonite looked on in shock at the sheer speed which the pink pokémon moved at before the moment was shattered by a shout.

'Waterbird let's end this, TRI ATTACK' yelled Adrian.

Immediately, Porygon opened its mouth and fired three coloured beams towards the startled Dragonite. Ice, fire and electricity surrounded Dragonite as he was consumed by all three. The beams continued relentlessly before stopping. All eyes were set on the dazed Dragonite as it wobbled precariously. After a few seconds he fell to floor, knocked out.

'Dragonite is unable to battle, the battle goes to Adrian!' shouted Sam. The teens all erupted, cheering triumphantly for Adrian whilst also feeling sorry for Iris.

Instead of celebrating, Adrian simply recalled Porygon_Z and walked across the field to Iris and held out his hand. He smiled sheepishly at her as she looked at him.

'Thank you, that was a really fun battle' he calmly said.

Iris looked at him before grasping his soft hand in hers and shaking it.

'Yeah thanks, you were really good' she said. Although she lost, she felt enlightened and encouraged to train her pokémon harder and win.

'Thanks and hey don't worry, its always tricky to beat a biologist, we're a rare breed' he laughed.

She punched him playfully on the arm as the rest of the teens approached them.

'Guys that was awesome! You put up a really good battle Iris' said Aaron with a smile.

'Yeah Iris, you were amazing' said Ash as the rest of the group celebrated and danced.

She looked expectantly at Cilan as he walked closer. Instead of saying anything, he enveloped her in a hug. Iris was shocked.

She hugged him tightly as the rest laughed.

He quietly whispered in her ear 'damn Iris, I'm gonna have to watch out for you'.

She instantly blushed and smiled nervously. Her perfect moment was ruined when she saw Misty approaching them with Aaron's hat.

The group watched expectantly as she looked at Ash. He immediately responded before shoving his gloved hands into the hat and pulling out two closed pieces of paper. There was pin-drop silence as he slowly opened them.

His expression changed to a cheeky, smiling one as he read the papers.

'May...and Drew'.


	25. Chapter 25: Drew vs May!

'Nuh uh, no way' said Drew immediately.

'Aww Drew come on you promised!' pleaded May.

'Yeah but only because the chances of me being against you were so slim!' replied Drew.

'Drew come on, she'll give you a kiss if you do' winked Ash, still holding the pieces of paper.

They immediately blushed before looking in opposite directions.

Instead of denying it, May shifted closer to Drew and looked deep into his eyes. 'Drew how many times have I battled you during contests?'.

'I know but this time's different' said Drew.

'But Drew-'.

'For the last time, I don't-'. Just as Drew was about to finish, there was a flash of bright light from his pocket. They looked down to see a green plant with flowers on its hands taking a battle position.

'Well Drewy even if you don't want to battle, I think Roserade does' said May with a broad smile.

'Roserade!' we're not-'.

Again, Drew was cut off by Roserade. The plant turned its back to him and began to walk towards the centre of the battlefield.

'Well it looks like I've got no choice' sighed Drew as he looked at May's amused expression.

'Yep, no choice at all' chimed May as she walked towards the opposite end of the battlefield.

Drew made his way to the battler's spot and watched as the teens cheered for him and May. He gave a casual flick of his hair before noticing May winking at him from the other end. He began to turn red before a familiar shout was heard.

'This will be a two on two pokémon ba-' began Brock.

'Go Blaziken!' yelled May as she threw a pokéball in the air, not even waiting for Brock to finish. He sulkily walked off and sat with the rest of the group.

'Typical May' thought Drew. 'Alright May if we're battling we might as well make it a good one' said Drew.

'Yeah lovebirds, let's make it good' laughed Brock.

Ignoring Brock's comment, Drew began the battle. 'Roserade, Growth let's go!'.

Roserade began to glow a bright green as its attack rose tremendously.

'Blaze Kick Blaziken' said May, clenching her fists as Blaziken jumped into the air. Its leg began to flame as it dived towards Roserade with its leg raised. The connection was brief but powerful.

Roserade went flying back at tremendous speed and landed on the ground as Blaziken landed on one knee, its face writhing in pain.

A faint smirk came to Drew's lips.

Blaziken was poisoned.

Brock instinctively reached for one of the many antidotes he had on hand just in case worst came to worst and he was needed.

Even though Drew didn't want to battle, he was still proud to be beating a pokémon with a superior type advantage to Roserade.

'Argh damn poison point' mumbled May before deciding what to do next.

Drew saw her struggling to think what to do next. 'She's so cute when she's confused' thought Drew before snapping back to reality. 'Roserade Magical Leaf!'.

Roserade's flowers began to turn multicoloured as a flurry of leaves flew out at breakneck speeds. They hurtled towards the still stationary Blaziken as May began to panic.

'Ahhh Blaziken if you have enough energy then use Overheat!'.

Blaziken scowled in pain before directing its attention to the leaves headed towards it. It winced before taking a deep breath and getting ready. Just as the leaves were about to connect, Blaziken exploded in a wave of fire that burnt the oncoming leaves to a crisp. It then hit Roserade directly and the pokémon hit the ground hard. Blaziken was about to follow up the attack with another Blaze Kick when it fell to the ground again.

The poison was getting worse.

Brock noticed it and began to panic, clenching and unclenching the antidote. If May didn't hurry up, Blaziken would be done for.

Roserade slowly managed to stand up, a pained expression becoming apparent on its face.

'Roserade you know what to do' said Drew calmly.

Roserade began to glow an eerie shade of green that radiated in all directions. The teens watched, transfixed at the sight happening in front of them.

'Damn...I wonder what's going on' said Dex in confusion.

'It's synthesis, Roserade's recovering the energy it lost and its happening pretty quickly because of the sun' said Adrian while pointing up. Ash looked up at the sun before returning back to the battle.

'Gee this is pretty awesome right Pikachu?' he asked the electric mouse sitting on his shoulder. Pikachu nodded before pointing to Misty who was sitting at the end of the sideline.

Ash blushed before quickly focusing back to the battle.

May was panicking.

She was quickly running out of options. If she didn't do something soon then Blaziken would be out of energy by the time she wanted to attack. She looked in fear at her partner in pain.

'Argh Blaziken give it a Blaze Kick before it gets its health back!'.

Blaziken was hurting and was barely concious as it heard May shout. Its vision was blurring and the glowing green plant in front of it was becoming fainter and fainter. Using the last of its strength, Blaziken stood up, not wanting to disappoint May.

It charged towards the fading green plant and slammed its burning leg into it with all the strength Blaziken could muster.

The next few seconds were a blur.

Everything was fading to black, Blaziken's leg was hurting, shouts and screams could be heard.

Suddenly, there was a yellow blob obscuring Blaziken's vision. Blaziken didn't even have the energy to lift up its arm and move it. The blob held up a gun to Blaziken's head.

'Am I hallucinating?' thought Blaziken.

By now everything was almost black and all it could hear was a fuzz. All feeling had gone from Blaziken's body and the worst part was, it couldn't even lift its head to see if it had let down May or not.

Suddenly, the blob fired the gun directly in Blaziken's face.

Then again.

Then again.

Blaziken's body felt rigid and numb as he felt ready for the worst.

But instead, he felt a strange tingling sensation. It started off small before becoming more noticeable. In addition to this, Blaziken's vision slowly became clearer. After a few seconds Blaziken became overjoyed for the yellow blob with the gun in front of it was Pikachu with an antidote!

Pikachu was smiling broadly as the rest of the teens came running towards it. Blaziken managed to move its neck to find itself in May's arms. She was crying as a small smile broke on her distraught face. No words were needed as they looked at each other in happiness.

Suddenly, a question lodged itself in Blaziken's mind.

'Did I win?' it thought while looking around the battlefield. There was nothing apart from teenagers running towards him. May knew exactly what Blaziken was thinking and simply nodded. The fire pokémon's heart surged as it realised it had won.

Brock came running over out of breath. He didn't say a word before softly grasping Blaziken's leg and observing it.

May felt happiness beyond words. Not just because she had won, but because her best friend was fine. The battle had been tough but Blaziken was fine. Drew had gone straight inside when he saw Blaziken fall to the ground to get medicine and towels.

'I never even got a chance to thank him' she thought in sadness before hearing a familiar voice.

'Jacob and Misty' said Ash, eyeing the blushing redhead as he readied himself for the interesting battle ahead.


End file.
